Health Activism: Communication Theory and Action for Social Change

Abstract

This article argues that "health activism" as a concept has been overlooked as an important element of health communication and situates the concept in relation to key areas of research in the field, including health citizenship and community organizing. The author presents theoretical frameworks for comparing and contrasting health-related social action based on issue focus and political orientation that facilitate communication-based contributions to multidisciplinary research. This contribution is discussed in more detail by theorizing communicative processes associated with health activism. It is then argued that the study of health activism can benefit from adopting critical perspectives that focus on issues of power and conflict and on multisectoral views of health that examine activist efforts related to a broad array of the determinants of health, including political, economic, and environmental issues.

Meanings of Health: Interrogating Structure and Culture

“…Our participation in dialogue with the men in rural Bengal suggests the need for addressing issues of structural inequity at both the levels of policy and implementation. Access, a key issue pointed out in our discursive engagement with the participants, can perhaps be secured by focusing on healthcare activism as a means of raising awareness among policy makers and the general public about the plight of rural participants (Zoller, 2005).…”

From Patient Navigation to Cancer Justice: Toward a Culture-Centered, Community-Owned Intervention Addressing Disparities in Cancer Prevention

“…As is evident from this study, there exist several complementary features between the philosophy of patient navigation and the culture-centered principles of listening, co-construction and grassroots organizing with marginalized communities (Dutta, 2014). Conceptualizing patient navigation in terms of identifying local cultural expertise, structural barriers to health and community agency taps into the notion of health communication as activism (Zoller, 2005), while offering a heuristic theoretical model to be employed in health interventions.…”

Counselling in a Discursive World

“…The intention in providing this brief overview of DP and CP has been to contribute to the revitalisation of theoretical supports available to school-based counselling practiceitself a valuable kind of health activism (Zoller 2005). As discursive activists, counsellors should recognise that the theoretical supports they engage help to construct and constitute the contexts in which they live and work.…”