Narratives, Health, and Healing: Communication Theory, Research, and Practice (Lea's Communication Series) (Lea's Communication Series)

This distinctive collection explores the use of narratives in the social construction of wellness and illness. Narratives, Health, and Healing emphasizes what the process of narrating accomplishes--how it serves in the health communication process where people define themselves and present their social and relational identities. Organized into four parts, the chapters included here examine health narratives in interpersonal relationships, organizations, and public fora. The editors provide an extensive introduction to weave together the various threads in the volume, highlight the approach and contribution of each chapter, and bring to the forefront the increasingly important role of narrative in health communication.This volume offers important insights on the role of narrative in communicating about health, and it will be of great interest to scholars and graduate students in health communication, health psychology, and public health. It is also relevant to medical, nursing, and allied health readers. Book Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Dedication......Page 6 Contents......Page 8 Foreword—Stories By and About Us......Page 12 Preface and Acknowledgments......Page 16 I: Overview of Narrative and Health Communication Theorizing......Page 20 1 Vital Problematics of Narrative Theorizing About Health and Healing......Page 26 2 Narrating Problems and Problematizing Narratives: Linking Problematic Integration and Narrative Theory in Telling Stories About Our Health......Page 50 II: Personal Narratives and Public Dialogues......Page 72 3 Becoming the Story: Narratives as Collaborative, Social Enactments of Individual, Relational, and Public Identities......Page 80 4 Time, Technology, and Meritocracy: The Disciplining of Women’s Bodies in Narrative Constructions of Age-Related Infertility......Page 102 5 Desperately Seeking Legitimacy: Narratives of a Biomedically Invisible Disease......Page 126 6 Death as the Representative Anecdote in the Construction of the Collegiate “Binge-Drinking” Problem......Page 150 7 State-Induced Illness and Forbidden Stories: The Role of Storytelling in Healing Individual and Social Traumas in Romania......Page 168 8 Cross-Border Mass-Mediated Health Narratives: Narrative Transparency, “Safe Sex,” and Indian Viewers......Page 188 III: Narrating and Organizing Health Care Events and Resources......Page 208 9 Our Family’s Physician......Page 216 10 Narrative Knowledge Development Among Caregivers: Stories From the Nurses’ Station......Page 236 11 Rx Story Prescriptions: Healing Effects of Storytelling and Storylistening in the Practice of Medicine......Page 256 12 Narrative Medicine and Education in Palliative Care......Page 278 13 Contesting Narratives of Workplace Maternity......Page 296 14 Wholeness in a Breaking World: Narratives as Sustenance for Peace......Page 314 IV: Narrative Sense-Making About Self and Other......Page 336 15 How I Fired My Surgeon and Embraced an Alternate Narrative......Page 344 16 “My Mom Had a Stroke”: Understanding How Patients Raise and Providers Respond to Psychosocial Concerns......Page 362 17 Constructing Life and Death Through Final Conversation Narratives......Page 384 18 An Examination of the Role of Narratives and Storytelling in Bereavement......Page 410 19 Agency Through Narrative: Patients Managing Cancer Care in a Challenging Environment......Page 432 Afterword: Continuing the Conversation......Page 452 Contributor Biographical Statements......Page 464 References......Page 476 Author Index......Page 522 Subject Index......Page 532 This distinctive collection features the work of scholars who explore narrative attempts to understand and enact health and healing. Authors pursue the implications of health narratives for individuals engaged in personal and relational sense-making and the construction of multiple, yet perhaps incompatible, realities. Narratives, Health, and Healing emphasizes how narratives emerge as complex performances in the midst of enveloping life and social narratives. Organized into four parts, the chapters examine health narratives in interpersonal relationships, organizations, and public fora. Editors Lynn M. Harter, Phyllis M. Japp, and Christina S. Beck provide an extensive introduction to weave together the various threads in the volume, highlight the approach and contribution of each chapter, and bring to the forefront the increasingly important role of narrative in health communication.This volume offers important insights on the role of narrative in communicating about health, and will be of great interest to scholars and students in health communication, the sociology of medicine, health psychology, and public health. This Volume Offers Important Insights On The Role Of Narrative In Communicating About Health, And Will Be Of Great Interest To Scholars And Students In Health Communication, The Sociology Of Medicine, Health Psychology, And Public Health.--jacket. Foreword / Arthur W. Frank -- Pt. I. Overview Of Narrative And Health Communication Theorizing -- Introduction / Phyllis M. Japp, Lynn M. Harter And Christina S. Beck -- 1. Vital Problematics Of Narrative Theorizing About Health And Healing / Lynn M. Harter, Phyllis M. Japp And Christina S. Beck -- 2. Narrating Problems And Problematizing Narratives : Linking Problematic Integration And Narrative Theory In Telling Stories About Our Health / Austin S. Babrow, Kimberly N. Kline And William K. Rawlins -- Pt. Ii. Personal Narratives And Public Dialogues -- Introduction / Phyllis M. Japp -- 3. Becoming The Story : Narratives As Collaborative, Social Enactments Of Individual, Relational, And Public Identities / Christina S. Beck. Edited By Lynn M. Harter, Phyllis M. Japp, Christina S. Beck. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 457-501) And Index. This distinctive collection explores the use of narratives in the social construction of wellness and illness. Narratives, Health, and Healing emphasizes what the process of narrating accomplishes--how it serves in the health communication process where people define themselves and present their social and relational identities. Organized into four parts, the chapters included here examine health narratives in interpersonal relationships, organizations, and public fora. The editors provide an extensive introduction to weave together the various threads in the volume, highlight the approach and contribution of each chapter, and bring to the forefront the increasingly important role of narrative in health communication. This volume offers important insights on the role of narrative in communicating about health, and it will be of great interest to scholars and graduate students in health communication, health psychology, and public health. It is also relevant to medical, nursing, and allied health readers This collection explores the use of narratives in the social construction of wellness and illness. The emphasis is on what the process of narrating accomplishes--how it serves in the health communication process where people define themselves and present their social and relational identities