Examining the Digital Story Created by an Adolescent with Cancer: Insights and Ideas from a Case Story

Digital Storytelling (DST) has been recognized as a holistic and innovative storytelling avenue. Survival rates for pediatric oncology patients are improved, making it necessary to investigate the psychosocial perspectives of these children. This research began following a comprehensive review of the scientific literature and identification of a gap as it pertains to using DST as an avenue for acquiring data about this aggregate of patients. The purpose of this project was to explore the use of DST among pediatric cancer patients and their perspectives regarding diagnosis. We employed a qualitative case study design with two oncology patients between the ages of 11 - 17 years. The narrative, digital story, and field notes comprise the qualitative data. DST narratives and field notes were analyzed using qualitative content analysis to extract themes. Findings will provide the foundation for future research to explore the use of DST as both an intervention and data collection method in this population.