Facing resistance to health advice

This paper examines the possible responses for resistance to health information among women. The data are drawn from a broader qualitative study of how 60 women in Finnmark, a region of Norway, which examined how the participants responded to health information related to coffee, exercise, smoking and diet. This paper focuses on responses to health information about smoking. The study suggests that health information challenges the women's conception of their selves. This may make them take a distance to health information which then makes health information less effective.