Representations, communities and health: an introduction
Abstract
Symposium: "Representations, communities and health" I Symposium: "Representations, communautes et sant6" Representations, communities and health: an introduction I i~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The broad aim of this symposium is to explore the contributions of social psychology to understandings of health-related issues. In recent years, the field of health psychology, which focuses on the interface between body, mind and well-being, has expanded dram- atically. But "health", in its broadest sense, is much more than simply behavioural reactions to biomedical factors, or the attitudes of isolated individuals to their own or others' health status. It is a social and cultural notion which relates to the collective practices and identities of communities, and its social construction reveals much about a society's fundamental beliefs concerning what it means to be human. Social psychology is ideally situated to tackle the complexities of these links between identities, health beliefs and practices as they develop within and between communities. With the rise in public concern about the provision of effective health programmes that are sensitive to the needs and life-styles of their beneficiaries, the contribution of social psychology becomes increasingly valuable. Once we move away from a narrow biomedi- cal conception of health and replace this with a