TY - JOUR

T1 - Navigating health communication: The effects of mediatization on responsibility in complex decision-making

AU - Nordtug, Maja

AU - Petersen, Line Nybro

PY - 2024/6/27

Y1 - 2024/6/27

N2 - This article investigates the mediatization of responsibility in the context ofhealth care decision-making and biological citizenship. The analyzes how Danish parentsnavigate the pervasiveness, polysemy, and media logic of health communication, and howthe authority and legitimacy of certain types of health communication play into their senseof responsibility. The study consists of interviews with 18 Danish parents who were in theprocess of deciding or had recently decided on whether to give their child the human papil-lomavirus (HPV) vaccine. This study draws on mediatization theory, sociological theory ofresponsibility, and research on health communication to illustrate the media-centered con-ditions that shape parents’ decision-making processes. We find that the pervasiveness andpolysemic nature of the information available about the vaccine creates an imperative tounderstand the information while parents also have to navigate the media logic regardingmedia’s motivation for presenting information about HPV vaccines in certain ways. As aconsequence, parents’ decision-making responsibility as biological citizens is undergoingsignificant changes that place increasing responsibility on the parents in this study

AB - This article investigates the mediatization of responsibility in the context ofhealth care decision-making and biological citizenship. The analyzes how Danish parentsnavigate the pervasiveness, polysemy, and media logic of health communication, and howthe authority and legitimacy of certain types of health communication play into their senseof responsibility. The study consists of interviews with 18 Danish parents who were in theprocess of deciding or had recently decided on whether to give their child the human papil-lomavirus (HPV) vaccine. This study draws on mediatization theory, sociological theory ofresponsibility, and research on health communication to illustrate the media-centered con-ditions that shape parents’ decision-making processes. We find that the pervasiveness andpolysemic nature of the information available about the vaccine creates an imperative tounderstand the information while parents also have to navigate the media logic regardingmedia’s motivation for presenting information about HPV vaccines in certain ways. As aconsequence, parents’ decision-making responsibility as biological citizens is undergoingsignificant changes that place increasing responsibility on the parents in this study

KW - Det Humanistiske Fakultet

KW - mediatization

KW - Health Communication

KW - HPV vaccination

KW - parents

KW - Media use

U2 - 10.5771/2192-4007-2024-2-238

DO - 10.5771/2192-4007-2024-2-238

M3 - Tidsskriftartikel

VL - 24/year 13

SP - 238

EP - 260

JO - Studies in Communication and Media

JF - Studies in Communication and Media

SN - 2192-4007

IS - issue 2

ER -