Narrative Health Communication

Abstract

Narrative health interventions are considered potentially more effective than rhetorical health interventions as they are more likely to attract attention, be more comprehensible and memorable, and are less likely to evoke resistance. Meta-analyses reveal significant yet modest effects of narrative interventions on people’s beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and behaviours. In this chapter, we will discuss the nature of narrative health interventions, the ways in which they can exert their impact, and the need to tailor these interventions to the target audience. For example, in a cyberbullying situation, narrative interventions focusing on perpetrators should tell a different story to those interventions focusing on victims. Further, neither of these targeted interventions would be the same as a communication aimed at bystanders who wish to intervene on behalf of victims.