Pandemics, Publics, and Narrative

Pandemics, Publics, and Narrative examines how everyday individuals interpreted official health guidance during the 2009 influenza outbreak. Published by Oxford University Press, the book connects personal experiences with public communication strategies.

The volume tracks the progression of public messaging, from initial campaigns encouraging vigilance without alarm to later communication dilemmas when the virus proved milder than expected. It considers how people weighed infection control measures such as vaccination and social isolation alongside their individual health circumstances.

Drawing on illness narratives, narrative medicine, and sociocultural narrative scholarship, the authors propose a narrative public health model designed for health communicators and researchers across the social and health sciences.