Communicating About Culture and Health: Theorizing Culture-Centered and Cultural Sensitivity Approaches

This essay proposes that health communication in cultural settings may be categorized under 2 broad umbrellas: the culture-centered approach and the cultural sensitivity approach. Whereas the culture-centered approach is based upon the commitment to building theories and applications from within the culture, the cultural sensitivity approach pushes the agenda of the status quo and seeks to adapt the messages to the cultural markers of the target audience. In this article, theoretical issues are presented for the discussion of each approach, accompanied by examination of the ways in which power, ideology, and hegemony play out in these approaches. Ultimately, this theoretical essay provides a conceptual framework for understanding the ways in which culture is theorized and applied in health communication.