ReCITE – Addressing Health Inequities Through Storytelling

ReCITE will engage residents of Liverpool, Knowsley, and Sefton. Through the power of storytelling, ReCITE seeks to improve health outcomes and well-being in some of the region’s most deprived areas.

As the lead creative partner in ReCITE, WoW are launching three What’s Your Story? projects, one each in Liverpool, Knowsley, and Sefton.  

What’s Your Story? is a creative programme where participants share and develop stories in a supportive group setting. The groups will meet weekly for a period of six weeks, working with professional writers and creatives, to develop their stories. These stories will be shared at learning events to which Health care and other relevant professionals will be invited. 

‘This course has quite literally changed my life. It has been one of the best things I have ever done and to think that I found it by accident makes me think that it must have been meant to be. I was at an extremely low point in my life when I found this course and I was terrified. However, the course changed all that. The tutors and the staff who run the course have been so personable and welcoming, inspiring, and encouraging that for the first time ever I have started to believe that my voice is important and has value. I have developed the confidence to speak in front of people and to show words that had been hidden away for many years. This course is invaluable and priceless.’ 
What’s Your Story? Participant

We Are Seeking…

• Individuals who have faced difficulties accessing healthcare services due to practical issues (e.g., language barriers, location, service hours) or personal concerns and anxieties about the services offered.
• Individuals who have overcome these difficulties through creative health initiatives such as films, songs, choirs, poems, or theatre productions, which have helped them rethink their approach to accessing healthcare.
• Individuals who have participated in creative activities (e.g., writing groups, arts and crafts, film, or theatre projects) that have helped them overcome barriers to healthcare services.

If you are 18yrs+, live in Liverpool, Knowsley, or Sefton and you have a story to share that will help us achieve our aims We would love to hear from you.  We will select ten people in each borough. Participants will receive £30 plus travel reimbursement for each session in recognition of the time commitment. 

Projects will take place in Toxteth, Kirkby and Bootle. Venues and start dates for each borough will be confirmed shortly. Spaces are limited. If you can’t join What’s Your Story? due to limited spaces, there will be more opportunities to get involved with the ReCITE project.

If you encounter any difficulties completing the registration form digitally, whether due to accessibility needs or other reasons, feel free to call us on 0151 703 0020 or email info@writingonthewall.org.uk. We can assist you with an alternative way to register.   

Please note that the stories that are share by participants will be shared anonymously. 

ReCITE, an initiative led by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, aims to blend creativity with healthcare. The project focuses on integrating storytelling into community and health practices, to rebuild trust and promote well-being. Writing on the Wall are the lead creative partner, working alongside a wide range of academic and other creative partners.  Through the power of stories, the project seeks to promote health prevention and mental well-being in some of the region’s most deprived areas. The project will run for three years and is funded by Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). 

In North Liverpool, too few women are going for routine breast screening where uptake is well below the national average of 62%. In this film short, Liverpool actress Eithne Browne reads a poem written by local creative Leonisha Barley, addressing women’s fears about mammograms and what to expect during the breast screening process. 

Liverpool has a rich heritage of arts and culture, but it also ranks as the third most deprived local authority in the country. The city faces growing health inequities fueled by the rising cost of living, the COVID-19 hangover, diminishing trust in public services, and growing mental health struggles. These disparities are evident in troubling health data: declining immunisation rates, a 12.5-year life expectancy gap between the wealthiest and poorest, 3 out of 10 children living in poverty, and in the most deprived areas, people are 2.23 times more likely to die from COVID-19.

The Recite project aims to demonstrate the role that creativity and storytelling in particular can address health inequity. We have chosen to focus on storytelling because evidence shows that personal stories are a more powerful tool in changing perception than hard statistics and factual reports.   

The project aims to use storytelling to explore health inequities, and remove barriers in the following ways: 

1. To help health professionals and policy makers understand the barriers that people face to influence how services are provided. 
2. To help health professionals and policy makers understand the mistrust, often justified, that some communities have in health care and prevention services so that they can effect change.
3. To understand, challenge and correct misinformation around health that may prevent people from accessing services.