Illness narratives and the social construction of health.

In this chapter we start with a brief overview of the social construction perspective its bases in rhetorical and communication theory and its application to communication referencing matters of health and illness. Following this introduction we center our attention on socially shared health-related narratives among the most common and powerful forms of symbolic construction. Although we refer to a widely diverse scholarly literature we have not tried to present an exhaustive survey of the field. Instead we refer to exemplary studies including some of our own that we find particularly instructive for understanding the health narrative approach. We then identify discuss and illustrate five functions of health narratives: sense-making asserting control transforming identity warranting decisions and building community. We conclude with several points to consider as the narrative perspective becomes increasingly incorporated into health communication scholarship. Throughout this chapter we use Roses narrative to illuminate our conceptual explanations. (excerpt)