DR HECTOR AMAYA HOW TO

literature, this scholarship comprises interdisciplinary, international, multi-methodological, and cross-cultural research in an array of communication contexts (intra- and interpersonal, small group, organizational, mass-mediated). Thus, in this chapter, we describe the unique elements of interpretive and critical contributions in the extant literature and assess these contributions to identify ways in which they can be strengthened. Such an assessment is important, given that the nature of these contributions differ at times from post-positivist research (in some cases overlapping, in others acting complementarily, and still others antagonistically). Yet, we still lack a broader description and assessment of the contributions of interpretive and critical research to theory and practice in health communication. Integral to these developments has been the burgeoning use of interpretive and critical perspectives. Health communication researchers have made great strides in developing theoretically grounded research, resulting in more complex understandings of communication in health contexts. Support and information additionally repositions women in feminine, heteronormative ways, while excluding women who do not fit narrow cultural stereotypes. Whilst women are positioned as ‘empowered’ regarding their health, this comes at the price of self-regulation and responsibility. This illness culture has productive and restrictive effects for women’s subjectivity. We discuss neoliberal discourses of ‘individual responsibility and empowerment’ and ‘optimism’, and the central practices that focus on individual health behaviours and survivorship. Further, we consider how women with breast cancer are positioned and what the implications are for women’s lives. We take a feminist post-structuralist approach to review current breast cancer lay materials available to women in Australia, to examine how breast cancer is discursively constructed within this context. We describe this as an ‘illness culture’, consisting of neoliberal discourses and practices, which construct the breast cancer experience. The ‘pink ribbon culture’ dominates understandings of breast cancer in Western societies.

DR HECTOR AMAYA HOW TO

I argue that there is an urgent need to stimulate debate about how to improve breast cancer awareness campaigns and propose an alternative approach, grounded in a critical pedagogy paradigm- a model of critical health literacy based on a patient-centred approach that aims to develop critical consciousness and reflection of the l factors that affect breast cancer. However, there is evidence that fear creates unnecessary social psychosis and further distorts the decision-making process, conflicting with empowerment intent. Some justify this particular use of fear by appealing to the need to target women with a simplified, high-impact message. A further problem is that they allude to assumptions about the reasons for women's compliance: (2) stereotypical moral and (3) gendered responsibilities for one's health and family as well as fear of a horrible death. Towards this end, their main approach focuses (1) on the use of coercive fear-mongering tactics, including misleading information and exaggeration of data on incidence, mortality, survival and treatment efficacy. I show how the specific goal of empowerment aims to persuade women to comply with biomedical recommendations which include behaviour change and treatment-seeking. I illustrate my argument with examples from Spain and North America.

Yet, drawing on my own research and observations as an academic and activist over the past 9 years in Spain, I argue that these mainstream campaigns are often unaware of, or oversimplify, conceptualisations of empowerment.

Breast cancer awareness campaigns are the major strategy used by public institutions and private organizations to empower women about breast cancer.

Dr hector amaya