Health communication in Southern Africa: Engaging with social and cultural diversity

Does healthy behaviour have the same predictors whether Zambian or Namibian individuals are concerned? How do social networks in small villages play a role in communicating health information? Do South African mass media affect diverse audiences the same way as mass media do in Western society? Is the design of patient information adequate to help and instruct people who speak Xhosa as their first language?
This book presents studies on health communication, in particular HIV/AIDS communication, in southern Africa, from a variety of scientific perspectives. It brings together approaches from usually divergent areas such as psychology, the analysis of social networks, studies of mass communication and the analysis of interpersonal communication, language and document design. These studies, all based on research in southern Africa, show the complexity of social and cultural factors related to health communication. Both established and promising researchers from the USA, Europe, and South Africa provide answers from health communication research in socially and culturally diverse societies in Southern Africa.This overview of scientific approaches is a must-read for students, scholars and practitioners in health communication and public health. It is also an invaluable resource for professionals who are involved in health communication.