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Call for Papers

We are seeking papers for a special issue of the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships with the theme of everyday interplay between family relationships and family members' health. Specifically, the focus for this issue is on: (1) how family members construct health and healthy behaviors; and (2) how family members socialize and reinforce their members into health practices and health care practices. Although we recognize the import of the social support literature, this special issue is not intended to examine the role families play in chronic or acute illnesses or how they act as caregivers. Instead this special issue will examine family or relational processes that impact beliefs about health or health practices, including how family members provide a general context for discussion and definition of health and illness, acknowledge symptoms, affirm the need to visit a health care provider, encourage sustaining a regimen of treatment, and seek to influence other family members' health behaviors. We seek a mixture of research based and theoretical articles tied to data.

Articles that would fit this issue's theme might include, but are not limited to:

• How "health" and "illness" are constructed in families.
• Parents' talk, both planned and unplanned, with their children about health risk behaviors (e.g., drugs, tobacco, alcohol, sex).
• "Taboo" health topics in families, and how families manage stresses involved in revealing health issues to other family members.
• Parent-child talk about "healthy" behaviors - what is considered healthy in regards to nutrition, exercise, vitamins, other precautionary measures.
• How influence about health risk behaviors is accomplished in the family.
• Family members' access to, use of, and discussions about technology in acquiring information about health.
• Intergenerational familial influences on health.
• How "myths" or "folk remedies" about health (e.g., pregnancy treatments, what to when you have a cold) are discussed or reinforced in the family.
• Relational messages consequent upon health talk in families.
• Physician-family communication.

The deadline for manuscripts is September 30, 2002. Manuscripts should be sent to:

Carma Bylund and Steve Duck
Guest Editors, Special Issue
Department of Communication Studies
121 BCSB
University of Iowa
Iowa City, IA 52242

Please contact carma-bylund@uiowa.edu with any questions.