Innovative Approaches to Narratives in Health Communication

'Innovative Approaches to Narratives in Health Communication' provides in-depth research studies, literature reviews, and step-by-step instructions for a variety of health communication contexts to help improve overall satisfaction and the empowerment of others. 'Innovative Approaches to Narratives in Health Communication' is intended to be used in many health-related contexts including, but not limited to, the classroom, further research, and health care professionals. While some texts focus on narratives in public communication or on a specific population (such as women’s health), this volume applies narratives in a variety of health communication contexts. 'Innovative Approaches to Narratives in Health Communication' opens with a chapter about the different types of narrative research, entertainment education, and narrative persuasion. Next, the first section includes chapters on the “human experience” and narratives. These chapters include powerful and emotional topics relating to the use of narratives in critical care, reproductive loss, video gaming and cancer narratives, and the impacts of the infant formula shortages. The second section highlights how narratives can be used in university/college-aged participants. The two chapters analyze how narratives can be applied to both the mental health of college students and those partaking in risky behaviors. The third and final section comprises chapters discussing the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the use of narratives. The section begins with a chapter highlighting the “Coming age” during the pandemic and relevant research relating to narratives. The following chapters will include a discussion of the impacts of COVID-19 on black communities, and the importance of narratives with frontline workers. All of these chapters provide unique applications and examples that use narratives in current and important research. Overall, 'Innovative Approaches to Narratives in Health Communication' aims to provide a diverse audience with unique tools and perspectives to broaden our understanding and applicability of narratives in health communication contexts.

List of Figures
List of Tables
Acknowledgments
Innovative Approaches to Narratives in Health Communication
List of Contributors
Introduction
Introductory Discussion Chapter 1
Chapter 1 Distinguishing Testimonials from Narratives: Advocating for Testimonial Messages in Health Communication
Judy Watts
William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications, University of Kansas
Section 1: Narratives and the Human Experience
Chapter 2 Using Narrative to Empower, Educate, and Make Sense of Reproductive Loss
Maria Brann
Indiana University Indianapolis
Alaina Leverenz
Columbia College
Jennifer J. Bute
Indiana University Indianapolis
Amanda Holman
Creighton University
Haley Kranstuber Horstman
University of Missouri
Chapter 3 “Your Mother Won’t Leave this Hospitalization”: Narrative Medicine in the ICU
Alyse Keller Johnson
Kingsborough Community College
Chapter 4 Collective Action and Online Practices During the 2022 Infant Formula Shortage
Alison Novak
Rowan University
Chapter 5 Immersion and Perceived Narrative in Recreational Video Games: Associations with Well-Being Among Cancer Survivors
Maria Leonora G. Comello
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Diane B. Francis
Northeastern University
Jasmine Gray
Pepperdine University
Section 2: Narratives in a Higher Education/University Setting
Chapter 6 The Importance of Instructor Social Support for College Students’ Mental Health
Tyana Ellis
North Carolina Wesleyan University
Chapter 7 Narratives and Risky Behaviors among College Students
Kimberly Parker
University of Kentucky
Bobi Ivanov
University of Kentucky
Sarah A. Geegan
University of Kentucky
Section 3: Narratives in the COVID-19 Pandemic
Chapter 8 Coming of Age in the Age of COVID
Rebecca Ricardi
Kutztown University
Chapter 9 Beyond COVID-19: Black Media's Insights into Health Messaging for Black Audiences
Christine McWhorter
Howard University
Chapter 10 “I hope people don’t forget about this time in history”: A Cross-Case Data Analysis of Retrospective Stories from U.S. Healthcare Workers During COVID-19
Trevor Kauer
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Cassidy Taladay-Carter
Affiliation
Index

Dr. Laura Blount Carper is an assistant professor at Texas A&M at Texarkana. She received her Ph.D. in Communication Studies with a focus in health communication from Louisiana State University in the Spring of 2021. She has a passion for working with individuals that are living in poverty, and enrolled in the SNAP program. She is the published author of 'Stigma and Social Support on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program' with Lexington books. Additionally, she has presented as a top paper finalist at the international risk and crisis conferences on vaccines and the Social Amplification of Risk Framework. Through her research she has focused on topics such as stigma, social support, and narratives in a variety of health communication contexts. She has also presented and chaired many panels at the National Communication Association. Since 2017, she has instructed undergraduate and graduate students at Louisiana State University, Louisiana Tech University, and most recently at Texas A&M University-Texarkana.

Qualitative research, Quantitative research, narrative sensemaking, immersion, social support, inoculation theory, preventive health, Cross-Case Data Matrix, stigma