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

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.