Table 2.

Patient perceptions of narrative's characteristics, mediators and outcomes.

Narrative characteristics
Engaging characters and stories	“I can see myself talking to the doctor that way…I enjoyed it a lot.” [Film]
	“I was a little shy but…I opened up more by listening to someone else telling their part and then me telling mines.” [Personal Storytelling]
	“We had fun with that and I wouldn't mind if we did have another week that occurred again because I enjoyed myself.” [Role play]
Cultural embeddedness	“The foods you eat, vegetables, chicken. That is our culture. The food.” [Film]
	“It's a lot of us that we don't [go to the doctor]. My mother will be 95 come August 28th and I went to see her in May and I could not get her to go to the doctor…that's our culture. We do that.” [Film]
	“They tell me what they experienced and how they take their [medication] … My teammates were telling me a lot of stuff like that I said I didn't know.” [Personal Storytelling]
	“You learn more with a group than you do just being on a one-on-one basis because in a group everybody experiences something different or similar.” [Role play]
Mediators of narrative's effect Transportation	“It reminded me of my younger days …it is like a flash from the past.” [Film]
	“It had really brought me back.” [Film]
	“If I see it, then I know what's happening…So I would say that would motivate me, to see it, [more] than just talking about it. … it would be more on me if I seen it than just to hear it because if I see it, it's going to stick here” [Film]
Identification	“When I was watching the video, I thought about myself and how when I go into the doctor's office, I don't always tell her exactly what's going on with me and how I feel.” [Film]
	“I listened at the things that the other people went through… I had been in that same position that the other people were saying that they were in and then I'm just really thinking… and I'm saying, well maybe I should have did that.” [Personal Storytelling]
Social proliferation	Discussion/diffusion
	“When you hear the other patients talking about things that they didn't do or things that they did do, you can learn from that too… By you sitting there talking with the other one then you can learn.” [Personal Storytelling]
	“Somebody might say…‘when I started doing this eating properly…my [sugars] went down’…Okay, I wonder if I did that will mine go down” [Personal Storytelling]
	Rehearsal/reinforcement of behaviors
	“When we role-played with Dr. Peek, it kind of broke down my shell. I didn't feel intimidated. She was teaching us step-by-step.” [Role Play]
	“We discuss a lot of things in class and we did a lot of little games…I kind of took heed of a lot of little things…and they kind of build me up.” [Personal Storytelling and Role play]
	Social support
	“Instead of me shunning and pushing away from [the education]…it's an inspiration because you hear what others go through, and we get a chance to share what we're going through” [Personal Storytelling]
	“We were all friends. We would tell about different experiences and how some of them had really stuck to what they were supposed to do and lost weight. And you know that gave me the incentive… I look forward to every three-month [follow-up meeting] because you be running back to your friends.” [Personal Storytelling]
	“It makes me feel good because I can let some of the things out that I didn't [even] know about myself …” [Personal Storytelling]
Narrative outcomes/responses Attitudes/beliefs	“It makes you feel stronger because by you looking at that video and you listen at the doctors talking and then you looking at the patient … it makes me make better decisions for myself.” [Film]
	“When I opened up, oh man, I felt like a brick was removed from off of my head because I was able to share what I was feeling…. They didn't interrupt me or nothing. They just sat there and listened and then when I sat down they gave me their opinions and how they felt about this and how they felt about that and that made me feel good.” [Personal Storytelling]
	“I like the excitement on people's faces when they hear, ‘oh you have overcome that…’it just encourages me.” [Personal Storytelling]
	“When we did the role-playing, Dr. Peek told me I was a little bit too aggressive…if I talk to my doctor like that I don't think I would get anywhere with her. I don't want to be mad and mean and coming down on her like that but I will talk to her now. I don't want to be antagonistic.” [Role Play]
Knowledge/skills	“It changed how I interact with the doctor… by me seeing the video, I did have the presence of mind to at least ask, ‘ What is this [medication] for? How often should I take it?”’ [Film]
	“Some of the things that another person went through … you're going through the same thing and you listen to what they say and it gives you an option to‘either/or.’…So, you can say, ‘Okay, this is what I learned from what you had said and I feel great about it and myself.”’ [Personal Storytelling]
	“They kind of built me up… we'd be like we're at a doctor's session… and then she would say things that she know is not right either, but then she wants to know are we going to catch on to it and just let it go or will we just speak up?…sometimes you don't be wanting to question your doctor and it be kind of hard, especially if you really like them and stuff. So, she was just like building us up so that you've got to be able whether you like the doctor or not.” [Role play]