Innovative Approaches to Narratives in Health Communication

“Innovative Approaches to Narratives in Health Communication” represents a valuable contribution to the existing literature for both researchers and those responsible for creating and implementing health communication campaigns. Across its 3 sections and 10 chapters, the volume demonstrates the many ways in which narratives can be a powerful tool for understanding and communicating health issues in a number of specific contexts. It incorporates contributions from a variety of scholars, each approaching the topic from different perspectives and viewing various aspects of health communication phenomena through different lenses.

Some of the aspects that set this book apart from others are its distinguishing between testimonials and other forms of narratives and its advocacy for the strategic use of testimonial narratives both in health campaigns and in future research. The book persuasively makes the case that testimonial narratives allow the listener to view the world from another person’s perspective. This perspective shift is powerful, insightful, persuasive, and, as the editor and contributors point out, empowering.

I believe that through its comprehensive, theoretically-grounded approach and focus on applications, this book possesses the power to positively impact health communication research moving forward and, perhaps more importantly, to empower and educate people—potentially leading to positive impacts on large numbers of people around the world.

Dr. Christopher Deal

Department of Communication & Media Studies

Louisiana Tech University