A New Narrative for Health, From Hollywood to Healthcare

“I help people take data and turn it into compelling storytelling,” explains Ari Mostov, a healthcare narrative strategist at WellPlay, a business consulting firm where she utilizes the power of storytelling to help healthcare consumers become more empowered and proactive agents of their own healing journeys. Storytelling is in our human DNA, Ari explains, and most of us aren’t fluent in the hard data involved in diagnosing and treating disease. By packaging data in relatable, allegorical form that clients can understand, healthcare professionals can increase the likelihood that patients will take the necessary steps to improve and maintain their health, while saving the professional a great deal of frustration. 

 

With a background as a Hollywood producer of film, television and gaming, Ari is well familiar with Joseph Campbell’s famous literary template the hero’s journey. Ultimately, each client is the hero in their own healing journey. In the same way that movie-goers often continue to co-create the narrative of their favorite films and enter into interactive worlds once they leave the theater, Ari hopes that healthcare consumers will do the same with healthcare once they leave the clinic. A big part of this is sharing their stories across social media where they can serve as inspiration and a source of motivation for others. Entertainment has proven to impact people’s behavior: when a patient watches a medical drama for example, they are more motivated to schedule and keep screening appointments, for example. 

 

As the daughter of a physician, Ari grew up with doctors who were well-acquainted with her unique story. Using “relentless imagination,” she is helping to reimagine the healthcare system to reaffirm patient’s agency and self-advocacy.

Quotes

• “Storytelling allows us to make meaning but it also allows us to create action, create mobilization, allow us to get from point A to point B, as long as we know what we want and where we're going.” (7:01 | Ari) 

• “It's sort of like putting me in front of my car's mechanic and him telling me all about the gears and the rotors and the whatevers. I wouldn't know what he's talking about, but he's having a blast with all the data. But when you tell me, Hey, your car is about to die on the highway, if you were to take it out, again, because your tires are flat, that makes sense. That's a story, and our patients deserve that as well.”(11:39 | Dr. Lara)

• “I do think there is a way to increase our own ability to self advocate and empower ourselves and really redesign the healthcare system in a way that reaffirms agency, reaffirms that at the end of the day, the person doing the healing is the patient, it's not the doctor, it's not the nurse, it's not the pharmacist. I have this belief that all healing is really self healing.” (15:16 | Ari) 

• “I really love how Hollywood has nailed down this fan model. Why can't we apply that to health care? So it's not just, ‘Oh, this is a healthcare experience that I enjoyed. It's actually, ‘This is a healthcare experience that I want to be a part of, I want to help co create, I want to continue.’” (20:28 | Ari)

• “There have been several instances where TV or films have had an educational component, but they're also really shifting the attitude, which I think, is even more important. You can go from, ‘Oh, yes, I'm aware that this is an issue, I'm aware that diabetes is a problem,’ or ‘I'm aware that maternal health is something I should be concerned about,’ to actually changing your attitude, and then even taking action. That's where the real power is.” (22:29 | Ari)

 

Links

Connect with Ari Mostov:

Website: https://www.wellplay.world/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ari-mostov/

Connect with Lara: 

Website: https://drlarasalyer.com

The Catalyst Way: https://drlarasalyer.com/catalyst

Instagram: @drlarasalyer

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drlarasalyer

Linked-In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlarasalyer/

YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/c/DrLaraSalyer

TikTok: @Creativity.Doctor

 

Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm