TY - JOUR
T1 - Reconceptualizing the "Patient"
T2 - Health Care Promotion as Increasing Citizens' Decision-Making Competencies
AU - Rimal, Rajiv N.
AU - Ratzan, Scott C.
AU - Arntson, Paul
AU - Freimuth, Vicki S.
PY - 1997
Y1 - 1997
N2 - Moving away from source-oriented models of communication, this article proposes that we reframe our understanding of the "patient" as an active citizen involved in individual and collective decision making. Citizens' health-related decisions in their physical, social, and mediated environments are examined. The role of the health communication researcher in each of these environments is to increase citizens' decision-making competencies, a task that requires adopting (a) a multilevel conceptualization of health and (b) a definition of communication that involves the exchange of shared meaning.
AB - Moving away from source-oriented models of communication, this article proposes that we reframe our understanding of the "patient" as an active citizen involved in individual and collective decision making. Citizens' health-related decisions in their physical, social, and mediated environments are examined. The role of the health communication researcher in each of these environments is to increase citizens' decision-making competencies, a task that requires adopting (a) a multilevel conceptualization of health and (b) a definition of communication that involves the exchange of shared meaning.
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U2 - 10.1207/s15327027hc0901_5
DO - 10.1207/s15327027hc0901_5
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0039284476
SN - 1041-0236
VL - 9
SP - 61
EP - 74
JO - Health communication
JF - Health communication
IS - 1
ER -