Narrative change
We believe that a crucial step toward improving health outcomes lies in the narrative surrounding health. This starts with embracing a comprehensive perspective that centers on communities experiencing the greatest barriers to optimal health and creating more understanding of community health and wellbeing. Below you’ll find a few projects we support in an effort to change the narrative around health.
ThreeSixty Journalism
ThreeSixty Journalism is a multimedia storytelling program for Minnesota youth, grounded in the principles of journalism and focused on contributing to more accurate narratives and representative newsrooms. For the past seven years, we have partnered with ThreeSixty in a multi-award winning TV and multimedia storytelling program. The program focuses on health narrative change, ensuring voices are given to all communities, creating greater understanding of where and why health happens, and developing the next generation of storytellers.
Learn more about the 2024 Multimedia Storytelling Camp
Minneapolis Institute of Art
In partnership with Blue Cross, the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) supports high school students to explore community health through the medium of art. In its fourth year, the Teen Perspectives program empowers youth to reflect on overcoming barriers to health through art, to enable healing and ultimately create healthier communities.
During the seven-week program, 18 students were mentored by local teaching artists Leslie Barlow, Kprecia Ambers, Akiko Ostlund, and others. Students explored topics related to mental health and wellbeing, drawing on their own lived experiences when creating artwork. Additionally, students drew inspiration from the exhibition Giants: Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys.
The Teen Perspectives program uses a multi-generational approach, bringing professional artists and youth together to engage in creative storytelling through art and share their perspectives on creating healthier communities. The partnership between professional artists and local high school students has been an impactful way to mobilize change and transform health in our state.
Native American stock photography
In 2025, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota and Adobe collaborated to produce a collection of stock photos portraying Native American community members in healthcare settings and engaging in healthy behaviors at home. Tribal Nations, clinics, nonprofit organizations and healthcare providers had requested contemporary and accurate stock photos of Native people to use in outreach to community members. In response, a selection of images has been added to the Adobe stock photography library — available for free for anyone to use worldwide.
Native Americans are one of the most underrepresented populations in stock photography and existing imagery tends to perpetuate stereotypes and inaccurate narratives. Lack of accurate representation poses a barrier to the advancement of the health and wellbeing of Native community members. The new stock photos from Blue Cross not only promote greater representation of the Native community, but, through a focus on positivity and health, encourage healthy living, preventative care, well child visits, prenatal care, and social connection for Elders at home.