A Model of Effects of Narrative as Culture-Centric Health Promotion

Abstract

Health promotion interventions designed for specific cultural groups often are designed to address cultural values through culturally adapted messages. Recent trends in health promotion incorporate narrative theory, locating culture within the narratives of cultural members, and suggesting that narrative may provide a central, grounded medium for expressing and shaping health behavior. We suggest that culturally grounded narratives are a natural choice for identifying and shaping health messages for specific audiences. A Model of Culture-Centric Narratives in Health Promotion is proposed based on previous persuasion and health promotion research. This model may be used to guide the development and testing of the narrative characteristics and psychosocial mediators of behavior change in a broad range of health interventions. Implications, boundaries, and limitations of the model are discussed.

This article is partially based on concepts developed and tested in projects funded by American Cancer Society, Juntos en la Salud: Cancer Prevention and Screening for Latinas (#TURSG-03-080-01-PBP–PI: Larkey) National Cancer Institute, Storytelling for Colorectal Health among Latinos (RO1CA118663-02—PI: Larkey), and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Drug Resistance Strategies Minority Project (R01 DA005629—PI: Hecht).

Many thanks to Deborah Helitzer, Matthew Kreuter, and Michael Slater for their comments and conceptual contributions to earlier drafts of the article.