Digital Story Lab · Research preview

Turn health research into stories that change behavior.

StoryHelper is an evidence-based storytelling platform that helps you translate research findings into engaging digital narratives for health promotion and behavior change.

How it works

3 peer-reviewed studies

42 research groups

11 countries

◆ built on published findings

01 · Why this matters

Behavior change starts with meaningful communication.

The gap

Behavioral health findings often fail to reach the people they are meant to help.

The cost

Ineffective communication has real consequences — reducing prevention impact and weakening public trust.

Our stance

Storytelling is a powerful health promotion strategy that can shape attitudes and influence behavior. We designed the STORY-Q framework to guide the development of high-quality, evidence-based narratives that foster engagement and meaningful behavior change. This framework positions digital storytelling not merely as a creative communication method, but as a structured knowledge transfer intervention for facilitating health behavior change.

02 · How it works

An evidence-based method
for storytelling.

In practice, StoryHelper helps users:

01

Plan a behavior-change story

Guided prompts covering aim, audience, barriers, message, and engagement idea.
02

Adapt for delivery channels

Tailor the story for short video, podcast, WhatsApp, mobile, or other formats.
03

Enrich with context files

Upload optional supporting materials: notes, surveys, interviews, or data.
04

Accelerate with AI assistance

AI-assisted suggestions and AI-generated story scripts, editable in-app.
05

Export and reuse outputs

Copy or download as TXT/Markdown; save story work over time.
06

Collaborate

Share saved responses via email invitations.
07

Evaluate quality

Built-in feedback form covering aim/audience/message, engagement, ethical considerations, action points, and overall tool usefulness.
08

Support responsible use

Platform rules (e.g., avoid identifiable personal data) and a research/education framing.

The STORY-Q Framework

Formulated for positive impact.

The StoryHelper platform operationalizes the STORY-Q Digital Story Quality Framework. Developed by researchers to move digital storytelling beyond creative guesswork, it translates scientific evidence into high-quality health communication through five core domains:

Letter	Domain	Meaning
S	Story-centered design	Use of narrative structure and meaningful storytelling mechanisms
T	Target population tailoring	Alignment with audience needs, context, and behavioral determinants
O	Outcome-oriented theory integration	Application of behavior change and communication theories
R	Responsible and ethical practice	Ethical development, representation, and dissemination
Y–Q	Yielding Engagement and Quality	Designing emotionally and cognitively engaging narratives

Explore each domain in detail:

Tailoring

Aligning narrative characters, social environments, and language with target populations to ensure maximum relevance and local resonance.

Theory-Base

Integrating behavioral models (such as COM-B, self-efficacy cues, and narrative transportation) to guide measurable behavior change.

Engagement

Structuring clear narrative pathways (circumstance, complication, conflict, and change) that hold reader attention and support identification.

Ethical Integrity

Ensuring autonomy-supportive phrasing, respectful participant representations, and preserving ethical standards across all health interventions.

03 · What we do

Workshops & Co-Creation Labs

We bridge research institutions, healthcare psychology associations, and community groups. Through structured co-creation labs, we train professionals to operationalize health communication with the StoryHelper platform.

Makeni, Sierra Leone (2026)

Digital Storytelling for Maternal Health

Aim: Introduce mothers, health promoters, and local community storytellers to the StoryHelper tool, and show how digital storytelling can carry maternal health messages within their own communities.

Outcome: Introduced 25 participants to StoryHelper through a walkthrough of its features, a practical reading of a generated story, and an open Q&A on using the tool in community health work.

Lisbon, Portugal (2026)

UCL Behaviour Change Conference

Aim: Equip researchers, practitioners, and policymakers with practical skills to design compelling digital stories that translate evidence into actionable health behavior change — using the StoryHelper platform and the STORY-Q framework.

London, United Kingdom (UCL) (2025)

Global Health Co-Creation Lab

Aim: Train international public health focal points to adapt research findings into highly localized community narratives.

Outcome: Developed and test-played audio-enabled narratives for public health communication campaigns.

"The co-creation lab helped us translate dry clinical guidelines into stories our patients actually relate to."

— Participant, London Conference

Upcoming

Storytelling for Behaviour Change: Designing Digital Stories for Health

Dublin, Ireland (Online) · 19 October & 2 November 2026

Show health and health communication professionals how to turn health evidence into engaging digital stories, using the Story-Q framework, the Story2Change model and the StoryHelper platform, and develop a story concept from their own health communication project.

See all workshops → 2 more from earlier years

04 · Who is it for

Designed for health communicators.

StoryHelper is built to support anyone trying to translate clinical evidence or public health recommendations into narratives that inspire real-world action.

01 · Researchers

"I need my findings to reach the real world."

You've spent months or years conducting peer-reviewed trials. StoryHelper helps you operationalize those findings, transforming data points into stories that drive community engagement and policy support.

02 · Campaigners

"I need campaigns that change behaviors."

Designing public health campaigns requires clear behavioral triggers without compromising trust. StoryHelper enables you to build stories focused on COM-B opportunities and capabilities that audiences can immediately act on.

03 · Psychologists

"I want to improve patient self-efficacy."

Abstract advice like "exercise more" often fails. StoryHelper lets you draft patient-centered narrative interventions, integrating concrete self-efficacy cues to guide individuals through behavior changes.

03 · Evidence base