Abstract
This study examines the role of communicative practices in the symbolic construction of health and community among residents living in a residential facility for people with AIDS. Questionnaire results show that two types of communicative practices--governance/support and everyday/special--are significantly related to residents' perceived physical and emotional health outcomes, their perceptions of the residence as a community (as opposed to a facility or institution), and their satisfaction with living there. Everyday/special practices reveal the communicative means by which perceived health is socially constructed, while governance/support practices reveal the importance of meta-communication for massaging the issues and tensions that pervade community life, and both sets of communicative practices help explain members' perceptions of the residence as a community and their satisfaction with living there. The study provides additional evidence regarding the constitutive nature of communication as a connecting thread that weaves together individual and collective meanings to help create and sustain such concepts as health and community.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
