MACMILLAN Health Communication and Disease in Africa: Beliefs, Traditions and Stigma

This book is a collection of essays from across Africa which highlight the roles of beliefs and traditions in health behaviour. Chapters address mental health, risk perception, stigma, reproductive health, religion and health. The book also examines conceptual approaches in health communication and community development, both western and indigenous.  Specific topics include Alzheimer’s, HIV and stigma; perception of risk from obesity, HIV prevention and preeclampsia; doctor-patient relationship and health beliefs of birth attendants; culture and mental health access and social media effects on mental health; the complementary use of contemporary and indigenous communication strategies and the accommodation of science by religious leaders during the COVID 19 pandemic. The book, which starts by examining global inequalities in health, proposes an African approach informed by problematisation as theorised by Foucault and Freire, to unpack habits and social problems. It ends by asking the question: “Is science enough” and making a strong case for health enabling environments alongside science communication. Review This book will be of great value to health practitioners and policy-makers, researchers and students. Chapters showcase a range of theoretical approaches to health communication skilfully linked by the editors’ Introductory and Concluding chapters. Together they provide the basis for a theoretical toolkit for the development of actionable understandings of the processes through which abstract scientific knowledge is communicated to real people in real contexts – and the social and psychological factors that mediate the success of a communication. It presents a compelling vision of an approach that is deeply rooted in African scholarship. ― Catherine Campbell, Emeritus Professor of Social Psychology, Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK From the Back Cover ‘This book will be of great value to health practitioners and policy-makers, researchers and students. Chapters showcase a range of theoretical approaches to health communication skilfully linked by the editors’ Introductory and Concluding chapters. Together they provide the basis for a theoretical toolkit for the development of actionable understandings of the processes through which abstract scientific knowledge is communicated to real people in real contexts – and the social and psychological factors that mediate the success of a communication. It presents a compelling vision of an approach that is deeply rooted in African scholarship.’ ― Catherine Campbell, Emeritus Professor of Social Psychology, Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK Bankole Falade is a research fellow with the South African Research Chair inScience Communication, Stellenbosch University, South Africa and Visiting Fellow, Department of Psychological and Behavioural Sciences, London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom. His research interests are in science and health communication.   Mercy Murire is a Senior researcher at the Wits Reproductive Health Institute (WRHI) and a researcher at University of Witwatersrand with the school of clinical medicine. Her research interests are in psychology and public health focusing on the intersections between sexual and reproductive health (SRH), mental health, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), HIV prevention, HIV stigma, contraceptives, and gender-based violence in adolescent girls and young women. About the Author Bankole Falade is a research fellow with the South African Research Chair in Science Communication, Stellenbosch University, South Africa and Visiting Fellow, Department of Psychological and Behavioural Sciences, London School of Economics and Political Science, United Kingdom.