Paola Ardiles Gamboa is an educator and public health champion who teaches health promotion and social innovation at Simon Fraser University in Canada. She’s also Chilean-Canadian and an advocate for human rights in Chile. Much of her work focuses on the social determinants of mental health, and story is one of her most powerful tools for change.

Recently, she shared a very personal story of her immigration to Canada and the resulting mental health challenges her family faced. Her goal was to draw attention to challenges and inequities in our systems, specifically the social determinants of health. As we discuss the surprising impact of this seemingly simple act, we explore the power of story to help us find, create and strengthen community.

This leads to an exploration of her use of stories in the health change lab she co-leads for university students in Surrey, British Columbia. By listening to and analyzing their own stories alongside stories from the community, students are able to develop deep empathy and understanding for the people they’re about to serve, which enables them to co-create better solutions to health challenges.

Finally, Paola tells us about the work she’s doing to share specific stories from the frontlines of the uprising in Chile, as a way to raise awareness and encourage global action. By seeking out personal connections and focusing on making the stories relevant to listeners thousands of kilometres away, she and her colleagues have been able to inspire both grassroots and political action to address the human rights injustices in her home country.

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