Hospital Publications: Is This My Link to a Healthier Life?

Abstract

Hospitals use newsletters to reach their patient base. Within these newsletters, health narratives are communicated to inspire community members to choose that hospital for their health needs. Because health narratives inform our understanding of health care delivery, I employ Bakhtin's (1984) ideas on monologic and dialogic discourse to analyze newsletters published by a major hospital network. Results indicate a monologic rather than dialogic discourse, which excludes patient's unique experiences, advances normalization of medicine, and perpetuates hierarchical power dynamics. In summary, this study suggests practical implications for practitioners producing health knowledge for consumers of health information.

KEYWORDS:

• trade publications
• health care promotion
• consumer information

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Dr. Benjamin Bates for his thoughtful comments and suggestions on the article. The author would also like to thank Dr. William K. Rawlins for introducing her to the works of Mikhail Bakhtin.