The Telling Stories - Understanding Real Life Genetics website is an educational resource developed to help health professionals understand the impact genetics has on people's lives by using real-life stories from individuals with, or at risk of, a genetic condition, their family members, carers and healthcare professionals.
The stories cover a range of genetic conditions from single gene conditions to complex, multifactorial conditions. The freely-available stories are linked to educational frameworks for nurses, midwives, GPs and medical students and include a toolkit of learning activities.
On Thursday December 8th they are celebrating the publication of the 100th story, which describes storyteller Siobhan`s experiences of living with two complex genetic conditions, ankylosing spondylitis and type 2-diabetes.
On her experience of being a storyteller, Siobhan says:
"I was really pleased to be able to tell my story; it's a good way to raise awareness of people like me trying to live a full life while dealing with complex problems (in my case ankylosing spondylitis and type-two diabetes). Too often I find that health professionals only see/deal with the part of you that interests them and not a whole person. The Telling Stories resource is a good way for us ordinary people to be ourselves and hopefully that is what the health professionals will see as well as understanding more about genetics"