Storytelling as a public health competency: a call for training that responds to contemporary challenges

Abstract

Public health has long emphasized letting quantitative data “tell the story”. Large, representative datasets allow researchers to answer questions about disease occurrence, risk, and interventions with rigor and precision. Yet, for many small, heterogeneous, historically-neglected or equity-denied populations, the infrastructure needed to generate robust data may be incomplete or absent 1 . Consider the following scenario grounded in rare disease: The clinical trial showed that the therapy was safe and effective. Clinicians described the therapy’s place in care. Yet, barriers to coverage and access persisted for affected families . Though this particular scenario is fictitious, ones like it remain common within rare disease spaces 2 . Here, data do not speak for themselves. They require interpretation, communication, and contextualization, particularly when decisions encompass values, lived experience, equity, and policy.