Interviewing for health case studies – 3 tips.

Case studies, real stories, blogs and quotes – if you’re developing health content, including the experiences of people actually living with the health condition you’re writing about can make a big difference to your audience. But why?

Helping reduce isolation

Many people living with ill-health want to read about the experiences of someone who has been where they are now.  Being diagnosed with a condition like cancer, especially rarer cancers, can be isolating. I interviewed Lynn for Blood Cancer UK - she said when first diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma, she was  “totally alone, on another planet. I felt that no one understood.”

Peer learning

On a practical level, hearing the tips of someone with lived experience can be help with coping skills - whether it’s preparing to go into hospital, dealing with side effects or making lifestyle changes. There is now plenty of evidence that peer learning and social norms can drive health behaviour change. For example, modelling – learning by observing others, can increase self-efficacy.

I interviewed Edward who was diagnosed with myeloma, and he had great tips for gradually getting back to being active after treatment. “I began going to the swimming baths, treading water for 10 minutes or so. Over time, I built it up to half an hour. It was just a process of gradually increasing what I was doing!”

As a report from the Health Foundation says, “when a peer has mastered self-management behaviours that someone else may be finding difficult, they can provide salient and credible role models for others to follow.”

Young people

Other research shows that young people in particular see distinct value in user-generated health content. When I interviewed Nick for Crohn’s and Colitis UK, he talked about the impact of being more open about his IBD with others,  “I’ve found that if you’re honest and open about things, people are generally just much more – “yeah sure ok!” People take an interest in it, and you find out more about them when you admit to something like that!” The hope is that this may have a positive effect on other teens in coming to terms with their condition.

So, you now you know why case studies are important, but when you’re conducting interviews to create health content, how can you do the best job possible?

I have done A LOT of interviews many of which have formed the basis of content such as blogs and stories for  health charity websites.  So, here’s my 3 tips:

1.    Get good consent

Having a clear but thorough consent form and thinking about GDPR, is really important. Drop me an email if you would like a templates that I use.

Often, it’s important to go further than a form, does your interviewee really understand what you’re doing and why?

An initial chat to go over this helps. Explain what the interview will involve, whether you’ll be recording or note-taking, and what might happen to the content. For example, will it be widely shared on social media? It’s important to give your interviewee time to think about who might read or see the content and a chance to change their mind.

It also helps to brief on the type of topics you want to talk about. Going over difficult issues like a diagnosis can potentially be re-traumatising, so gently encourage your interviewee to consider that before they consent. Offer a debrief and sources of support at the end of the interview – how did you find talking about that? Is there any further help you might need?

The process should be collaborative - I always send drafts of the write-up to my interviewees so they have a chance to make changes. It’s their story after all.

2.    Ask the right questions, in the right way

I’m a preparer and I like to have a list of questions ready to go beforehand. At the same time, I also prefer a semi-structured interview style. I often rephrase things, drop in extra questions or double-back and go back over things at the end of the interview. Sometimes I arrange a second telephone call or Zoom chat if the interviewee doesn’t mind.

Obviously, it helps if these questions are open-ended and start with some warm-up chat and questions that are easy to answer.

Interesting details can help bring the write-up to life – how did the person think or feel at the time? Who were they with when they found this out? What were their reactions? This can all help the reader connect with and finding meaning from the story. For example, finding out that Katie enjoyed doing mindful colouring, Lego and Origami during and after her stem cell transplant, helps get her personality across in this interview  I did for the charity Anthony Nolan.

It can also help to test the questions out beforehand on a willing person. I have found through bitter experience that a question I wrote down on paper didn’t work in ‘real life’.

3.    Make sure you’re ok

When the people you’re interviewing have been through a lot, hearing their stories can take a toll on you as well. Sometimes indirect exposure to traumatic experiences can have an emotional impact on researchers and interviewers.

It’s important to make sure your interviewees are in a good place to go through their experiences and are getting the support they need.

Equally, if you are doing a lot of interviews with people who have serious health problems, it’s a good idea to think of some ways to look after yourself.

This might be simple self-care after the interview – I tend to take some time to reflect on how I feel afterwards and make sure I rest and regroup if possible, rather than charging on with the next task.

In the past when I was doing lots of interviews (for case studies and qualitative research), I also had clinical supervision – which involved talking to a counsellor about my work.

Research suggests that this  can be a useful way of developing coping strategies as well as an outlet for any emotions that come up for you when interviewing people about traumatic topics. Try the Counselling Directory for a list of clinical supervisors.

What next?

If you’re new to this, then hopefully this helps you get started with your first interview. If you’re a more ‘seasoned’  health researcher, writer or interviewer like me, you might already have your own approach – I would love to hear some different tips and techniques. Get in touch for a chat or let me know if I can help with any projects.

The Media Trust also offer a Writing Compelling Case Studies training, if you’re after something more research-focused, check out the Social Research Association’s interview training.