Embodied Health Communication and Narrative Practices

Embodied health communication and narrative practices examine how bodily experiences and storytelling intersect to shape understandings of health, illness and care. This field emphasises the body not merely as a biological entity but as a site of meaning, identity and social power. By attending to sensory, affective and material dimensions of embodiment, researchers reveal how narratives emerge from lived experience and, in turn, influence health behaviours, professional practice and policy. Narrative practices range from patient life stories and autoethnographies to collective testimonies and performative engagements, each offering unique insights into the negotiation of stigma, agency and resilience. Across settings—from clinical encounters to community workshops and digital platforms—scholars explore how embodied narratives can disrupt dominant health discourses, foreground marginalised voices and foster more equitable and culturally attuned communication. The growing interest in creative and participatory methods underscores the potential for narrative embodiment to inform health promotion, enhance patient-centred care and contribute to social justice. Integrating theories from phenomenology, critical communication and medical anthropology, this research area highlights the global significance of stories as vehicles for healing, advocacy and transformative change.

Research from Nature Portfolio

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Embodied Health Communication and Narrative Practices publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in embodied health communication and narrative practices across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Embodiment: The lived experience of the body as both subject and object in health contexts, encompassing sensory, affective and material dimensions.

Narrative Practices: Methods and conventions by which individuals and groups construct, share and interpret stories to make sense of health and illness.

Critical Health Communication: An approach that examines power, equity and social justice in health messaging, attending to whose voices are amplified or silenced.

Duoethnography: A qualitative method in which two researchers or participants engage in a reflective dialogue to co-author insights from their intersecting experiences.

Phenomenology: A theoretical framework focused on describing and interpreting the structures of lived experience, often used to explore embodied health perceptions.

References

1. Embodied Methods in Critical Health Communication. Frontiers in Communication (2019).
2. Between Black mothers and daughters: a critical intergenerational duoethnography on the silence of health disparities and hope of loud healing. Frontiers in Communication (2024).
3. The plot thickens: Archetypal narrative structure in the melanoma patient journey. Critical Public Health (2018).