Storytelling: a novel intervention for hypertension

Myers and Green talks about an article by Houston et al conducted to present a provocative report on how listening to stories can help lower blood pressure among African Americans, particularly those in whom blood pressure was poorly controlled at baseline. Houston and colleagues' findings also raise intriguing questions about how clinicians might use patient stories in other settings and with other populations. Ultimately, although Houston and colleagues have done much to corroborate anecdotal evidence that storytelling can benefit patients with chronic illness, stories are unlikely to become a routine part of treatment until additional evidence shows that their effect is both sustainable and generalizable. When that occurs, and when ready access to the intervention is available (perhaps by social networking or a Web site), physicians might actually include a prescription for stories along with one for medication, a development they would welcome.