Catching Stories

The Challenge

Vaccination programmes for diseases such as measles have been, to a degree, victims of their own success in Europe and the USA. Public health communication continues to be a huge challenge in the context of vaccination. What would it mean to shift the conversation by listening to and sharing communities’ experiences of communicable diseases such as measles, polio and tuberculosis, and of public health initiatives?

This creative use of oral testimony and cultural heritage platforms to address pressing societal challenges can benefit both elements. In this project, the importance of listening to and engaging with communities on their own terms, and of safeguarding and providing access to memory and cultural heritage (SDG 11.4), is foregrounded just as much as the goal of combatting communicable diseases (SDG 3.3). The synergy of the two elements can foster real listening and exchange between biomedical and community knowledges and experiences.

The Research

We at the Cork Folklore Project drew upon our audio and questionnaire archives and carried out oral history interviews in order to explore experiences of infectious disease in Ireland from Spanish ‘Flu to COVID-19. In collaboration with immunologist Beth Brint, we created an online resource that brought stories and memories of infectious disease and public health initiatives, and their impact on the lives of families and communities, together with biomedical and health history accounts.

This resource, and the voices and stories in it, was the basis for a wide range of public activities; from a pop-up Time Travel Vaccination Station on Culture Night to story sessions with children during Science Week, to a six-month exhibition in the Boole Library, UCC, which privileged the memories, stories and experiences in people’s own words and voices.

The project was funded 2022-2023 by Science Foundation Ireland (Discover Programme).

The Impact

The Catching Stories online resource opens a window onto a number of interview and questionnaire collections carried out by the Cork Folklore Project: Catching Stories, The Grattan Street Medical Centre, ‘D’Orthopaedic’, and Chronicles of COVID-19. These collections provide the public, researchers, medical educators and public health communicators with rich documentation of healthcare in this and the last century: More than 150 contributors have had their experiences documented and their voices heard on the subjects of polio, tuberculosis, measles, COVID- 19 and public health initiatives. The multi-layered dimensions of individuals and families’ relationships with infectious disease has emerged strongly, and topics such as shame, stigma and family trauma are given space for expression.

More than 700 people interacted directly with our events, and feedback from the Boole Library exhibition proved it to be thought-provoking and exciting to visitors. The exhibition was re-purposed by the Health Services Executive, and brought to St Mary’s Primary Care Centre, Cork City, in October 2023 to mark the launch of the HSE’s winter vaccination drive. Since then, it has toured multiple HSE locations, and is still touring in May 2024.

Throughout, the project brought the topic of infectious disease and vaccination to the attention of the public. Radio interviews, newspaper articles ( e.g. https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and- style/health-family/catching-personal-stories-of- infectious-diseases-1.4569286), international and local conference presentations and public events presented this topic through local voices and experiences, and through stories and accounts that stick in the memory. Pressing issues in public health were given a fresh conduit to spark public discussion and awareness. At the same time, the project contributed significantly to international conversations about the role of tradition archives in the public sphere and in representations of ‘the folk’, and on the interdisciplinary promotion of the worth and richness of our holdings.

For More Information

The Research Team of James Furey, Beth Brint and Clíona O’Carroll can be contacted at c.ocarroll@ucc.ie

Visit the Cork Folklore Project at

www.corkfolklore.org

View the Catching Stories resource at

www.catchingstories.org

Visit the documented ‘virtual exhibition’ at

https://libguides.ucc.ie/catching_stories

"This resource is unique - it marries public health and cultural heritage very well, a mixture of old and new stories. This adds value to typical public health reporting, by relaying the personal experiences of real people - ordinary people - anecdotal evidence to supplement the statistics we generally see – it is a great piece of work."

– Denise Cahill, Cork Healthy Cities Coordinator

“Stark, stylish – and scary!
Particular touches like the ventilator which engages the audio story are what guarantee that this exhibition will haunt every visitor. I also appreciated the grounding of the scientific description of diseases.”

“Powerful exhibition – a reminder of the importance of vaccination.”

“Thank you for capturing stories which are often forgotten about in medical history.”

“A childhood friend who died of the measles, ventilating a small girl with polio manually through the night, waiting in line and in trepidation for the ‘Branding Iron’ vaccination in the 1950s... these are the stories that bring the history of medicine to life and make us think.”

– Catching Stories exhibition visitors

College of Arts, Celtic Studies & Social Sciences

Coláiste na nEalaíon, an Léinn Cheiltigh agus na nEolaíochtaí Sóisialta

College Office, Room G31 ,Ground Floor, Block B, O'Rahilly Building, UCC