Many children’s hospitals already have storytelling programmes that aim to cheer up patients. But new research, published in the journal Proceedings Of The National Academy Of Sciences, suggests that storytelling also has physiological benefits.
“Until now, the positive evidence for storytelling was based on ‘common sense’ and taken at face value, in which interacting with the child may distract, entertain and alleviate psychological suffering,” said study co-author Dr Jorge Moll, of D’Or Institute for Research and Education (IDOR), Brazil. “But there was a lack of a solid scientific basis, especially with regard to underlying physiological mechanisms.”
The team, based at IDOR and the Federal University of ABC, Brazil, studied 81 children between the ages of two and seven, all of whom were in the intensive care unit at Rede D’Or…