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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Health Serv.
Sec. Implementation Science
Volume 4 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/frhs.2024.1376695

Creating Demand for Unmet Needs: Agile Storytelling

Provisionally accepted
Jade Mehta Jade Mehta 1,2*Emily Long Emily Long 2Vidhur Bynagari Vidhur Bynagari 2Fereshtehossadat Shojaei Fereshtehossadat Shojaei 2,3Fatemehalsadat Shojaei Fatemehalsadat Shojaei 2Andrew R. O'Brien Andrew R. O'Brien 2,4Malaz Boustani Malaz Boustani 1,2,5,6
  • 1 School of Medicine, Indiana University Bloomington, Indianapolis, United States
  • 2 Center for Health Innovation and Implementation Science, School of Medicine, Indiana University Bloomington, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
  • 3 Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, Indiana, United States
  • 4 Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Indiana University Bloomington, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
  • 5 Center for Aging Research, Regenstrief Institute, School of Medicine, Indiana University Bloomington, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
  • 6 Sandra Eskenazi Center for Brain Care Innovation, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: The translational gap from the discovery of evidence-based solutions to their implementation in healthcare delivery organizations derives from an incorrect assumption that the need for change is the same as the demand for change. For sickle cell disease (SCD), implementation of evidence-based guidelines is often delayed or obstructed due to lack of demand, allowing for care delivery models that do not meet the community's unique needs. Agile Storytelling is a process built on the scientific foundations of behavioral economics, complexity science, and network science to create local demand for the implementation of evidence-based solutions. Methods: Agile Storytelling includes a design phase and a testing phase. The design phase converts the evidence-based solution into a minimally viable story of a hero, villain, struggle, drama, and resolution. The testing phase evaluates the effectiveness of the story via storytelling sprints in the target local healthcare delivery organization. The efficacy of Agile Storytelling was tested in an iterative n-of-1 case study design. Results: Agile Storytelling was used in a large, urban, healthcare system within the United States to facilitate the implementation of national SCD best-practice guidelines. After repeated failures attempting to use data regarding the high societal need to hire an SCD-specific social worker, an Agile change conductor using Agile Storytelling was able to create demand for the new position within a week. The health network has since implemented an SCD collaborative care team. Discussion: Agile Storytelling can lead to structured, effective, and informed storytelling to create local demand within healthcare delivery organizations.

    Keywords: agile science, implementation science, Sickle Cell Disease, demand, Storytelling

    Received: 26 Jan 2024; Accepted: 15 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Mehta, Long, Bynagari, Shojaei, Shojaei, O'Brien and Boustani. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jade Mehta, School of Medicine, Indiana University Bloomington, Indianapolis, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.