Literary Journalism and Health Promotion: A Survey of Ghanaian Medical Journalism

Nathaniel Glover-Meni

Abstract


The focus of this paper is to explore the ways in which literary journalism contributes to health promotion, albeit indirectly, illustrating this view point with texts culled from Ladé Wosornu’s ‘Health Issues’ column in the Ghanaian Times. Health issues are among the key developmental challenges facing Ghana. It therefore stands to reason that writers fictionalize these challenges in newspaper narratives, hoping that readers will act on the ideas offered. Wosornu uses literary journalism to demonstrate how traditional art forms can be used as medical therapy. Literary journalism has no direct effect on any illness. However, it can help keep diseases away from the reader. The study shows that wellness is not merely based on scientific apprehension of pathogen; it is also based on metaphysics. It further shows that tackling Ghana’s health issues should not start from building more health facilities. Rather, attention must be paid to using communication resources like literary journalism to create an environment that fosters positive health transformations, otherwise investments in the sector would not pan out.


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