Narrative Accounts of Hereditary Risk

Sanders, Tom, Campbell, Rona, Donovan, Jenny and Sharp, Debbie (2007) Narrative Accounts of Hereditary Risk. Qualitative Health Research, 17 (4). pp. 510-520. ISSN 1049-7323

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Abstract

In this study, the authors sought to examine how risk information is articulated in relation to health problems that people identify as personally important and relevant. The respondents were receptive to health education messages, using different types of information in relation to its personal relevance and as a resource for managing and exercising control over perceived risk. People were not fatalistic about disease risk, as reported in previous research. Instead, they were responsive to complex public health messages and actively engaged in rationalizing their health risks, although this did not necessarily result in behavioral change. Consequently, a theoretical distinction exists between taking responsibility for evaluating complex public health messages and taking responsibility for behavioral change. The authors conclude that people's rationalizations about health risks often mirror the medical model of disease, suggesting that they are responsive to, and not fatalistic toward, such public health information.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	genetics, family history, narrative, risk perceptions, heuristics
Subjects:	B900 Others in Subjects allied to Medicine C800 Psychology
Department:	Faculties > Health and Life Sciences > Social Work, Education and Community Wellbeing
Depositing User:	Paul Burns
Date Deposited:	31 Jan 2019 13:22
Last Modified:	10 Oct 2019 22:30
URI:	http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/37838

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