StoryAID: nursing students' relational learning with young people with intellectual learning disabilities

Nursing students express fears and anxieties about caring for people with intellectual learning disabilities (ILDs). Educational storytelling interventions may help overcome these concerns and improve nursing care. StoryAid was used and developed in the Heritage-2Health (H2H) Virtual Art and Drama Project. Eight online sessions followed a story about differences and connections. Two trained facilitators and three academic educators supported nursing students (n = 15), adolescents with ILDs (n = 7), their parents (n = 7), and a specialist teacher to deconstruct, reconnect, and rediscover understandings using rights-based ethnographic evaluation and thematic analysis. Themes included relating to the story and characters, participating in the storytelling process, relating to other participants in the storytelling, and relating learning to clinical contexts and professionalism. The partnership of StoryAid and H2H created safe spaces for nursing students to engage, challenge assumptions, and develop relational skills.