Connecting the Micro and Macro Approaches: Cultural Stakes in Health Communication

Prior to the establishment of Health Communication as an independent field of study, the socio-cultural dimensions of health and illness (patient/health aide relationship, social representations in health, etc.) were largely covered by sociology and anthropology. (Adam, and Herzlich 1994) Jodelet: “These pioneering disciplines have not failed to integrate a perspective of the individual in their approach, while establishing him in his social and cultural enrolment horizon, or in the framework of his relationship with medical institutions and professionals. ” (2006:1; our translation) However, the recognition of culture in the medical field has already been formulated in 1986 during the Congress of the World Health Organization in Ottawa, Canada. A new health system trend was then defined: the promotion of health that would offer, in addition to clinical and curative services, the recognition and respect of cultural needs. Nonetheless, Jodelet (2006) puts forth the statement that psychology of health was blinded by the game of collective dimensions that intervenes in the individual and public managing of health and illness. Within these dimensions, Jodelet considers culture being almost nonexistent, despite it being a central part of several works in sociology, history, and anthropology, which were concerned with illness and health