Storytelling framework for social care in Wales
“We are all storytellers. We all live in a network of stories. There isn’t a stronger connection between people than storytelling.” - Jimmy Neil Smith, Director of the International Storytelling Center
Framework content
The framework can be imagined as a house with a foundation of ethical practice, three pillars of storytelling practice and a roof representing the overarching benefits of storytelling
How can storytelling help me in my life and work?
Storytelling is the way that humans make sense of the world and connect with one another.
It can be used in many ways in social care and health, for example:
- to build relationships and understanding through co-production
- to help people engage with, and learn from evidence
- to support an individual or team through challenges
- to help us find out what's really going on (this can apply to people and organisations)
- to demonstrate the impact of work
- to celebrate practice and attract and recruit the right people, as well as keep them.
"We are, as a species, addicted to story. Even when the body goes to sleep, the mind stays up all night, telling itself stories." - Jonathan Gotschall, The storytelling animal (2013).
Additional reading
Our contributors and experts in the field have shared their essential reading with us. On this page, we've included a general reading list. Additional reading is also included on other pages in the framework.
Bamberg, M. and Georgapoulou, A. (2008) ‘Small stories as a new perspective in narrative and identity analysis’ Text & Talk - An Interdisciplinary Journal of Language, Discourse Communication Studies, 28 (3), pp. 377–396, available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/250975699_Small_Stories_as_a_New_Perspective_in_Narrative_and_Identity_Analysis (accessed: 4 April 2025).
De Fina A. and Georgakopoulou, A. (eds.) (2019) The Handbook of Narrative Analysis, Chichester, Wiley Blackwell.
Gersie, A. (1991) Earthtales: Storymaking in times of change, Portland, Greenprint.
Hydén, L. C. and Antelius, E. (2011) Communicative disability and stories: towards an embodied conception of narratives, Health London, 15 (6), pp. 588-603, doi: 10.1177/1363459310364158.
Milford, A. (2021) Using storytelling to talk about health and self care, Practical Pre-School Books.
Ochs, E. and Capps, L. (2001) Living narrative: creating lives in everyday storytelling, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press.
Reese, E. (2013) Tell me a story: Sharing stories to enrich your child’s world, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Thompson, T.L. and Harrington, N.G. (2021) The Routledge Handbook of Health Communication (third edition), Oxford, Routledge, doi.org/10.4324/9781003043379.
Underwood-Lee, E. and Thimbleby, P. (2019) 'Storytelling for Health', Storytelling, Self, Society, 15 (1), pp. 1-12.
Underwood-Lee, E., Hudson, J. and Williams, A. (2025) 'Storytelling and Aging', Storytelling, Self, Society, 19 (1), pp. 1-8.
References -
Gotschall, J. (2013) The Storytelling Animal: How Stories Make Us Human, New York, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Pascoe, K., Waterhouse-Bradley, B. and McGinn, T. (2023) Social Workers’ Experiences of Bureaucracy: A Systematic Synthesis of Qualitative Studies, The British Journal of Social Work, 53, (1), pp. 513–533.