Original scientific paper
Management of Health Risk Visiability and Construction of a Healthy Citizen
Tanja Kamin
Abstract
The article is a sociological discussion on mediated pervasiveness of
health concern in contemporary society. Under the umbrella of the World
Health Organization, which is one of the most influential health trendsetter
organizations, health is nowadays treated as a matter of ‘total
well-being’ – of both – an individual and a population. Positioned in the
social constructionism reasoning, I suggest that public health authorities
together with the mass media hold a central role in constituting identity
of a ‘healthy’ citizen, which is closely linked to an idea of a good consumer
– a consumer who is familiar with his/her private interests, consumer
rights as well as obligations, and who is aware of the risks and
gains of his/her consumption choices. These issues will be discussed on
the Slovenian case. The trend in shaping the health risk agenda and the
rise of mediatized health communication interventions will be demonstrated
with the data gathered by mixing methods: descriptive quantitative
research on 472 health communications interventions in Slovenia
that have been financed by the state and implemented in the period from
the independence of Slovenia in 1991 to 2003; and in-depth interviews
with the main actors in health promotion activities in Slovenia.
Keywords
health care; media influences; sociology of health; healthism; ideology of health; mediatization of health; Slovenia
Hrčak ID:
22994
URI
Publication date:
25.6.2005.
Visits: 1.975 *