Long Distance Truck Drivers and the Structural Context of Health: A Culture-Centered Investigation of Indian Truckers’ Health Narratives

Sastry, Shaunak

doi:10.1080/10410236.2014.947466

Cited by 24 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…The high workload and lack of proper structure in the stopping places is widely reported by studies in Brazil 15 , 18 , 21 and in India 19 . The pressure of shipping companies for delivery of loads, many hours of work per day, and the lack of defined work shifts is usually associated with the use of amphetamines 14 , 15 , 18 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to Sastry 19 , although many studies show the importance of structural factors to the risk of HIV infection, yet there is little empirical researches dealing with this issue in truck drivers. In analyzing narratives of truck drivers in Indian highways, the author found a context of socially vulnerability, marked by marginalization, work informality, violence, and poor conditions of work, with serious consequences for the prevention of HIV/AIDS among truck drivers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Meanings and vulnerability to HIV/AIDS among long-distance truck drivers in Brazil

Magno

Castellanos

2016

Rev. Saúde Pública

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OBJECTIVE To understand the meanings assigned by long-distance truck drivers to HIV/AIDS and its transmission and prevention, bearing in mind different contexts of vulnerability.METHODS Qualitative research with 22 truck drivers. Semi-structured interviews and participant observation were conducted in highways of the state of Bahia in 2013. We selected male truck drivers, with one year or more of work experience in long-distance routes. We carried out the thematic analysis of the interviews, to identify different contexts of vulnerability.RESULTS The results showed that the insertion of truck drivers in contexts of high social vulnerability (poor working conditions, violence on the roads, and use of alcohol and other drugs) along with the advances in access and effectiveness of treatment for AIDS promote a reduced perception of the risk and severity of this disease. In addition, the notion of “risk group” and the symbolic division between “home space” (protected) and “street space” (unprotected) intensified a restricted and specific use of condoms, guided by the opposition between “woman of the street” (unknown women, prostitutes, among others) and “woman of the house” (wives, girlfriends).CONCLUSIONS The meanings assigned by truckers to AIDS incorporated elements of recent transformations of the expanded social context, such as the development of health technologies (especially anti-retroviral drugs) and the guarantee of free access to treatment in the Brazilian public health system; but also incorporated old elements of social vulnerability context – such as the poor working conditions on Brazilian highways.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Meanings and vulnerability to HIV/AIDS among long-distance truck drivers in Brazil

Magno

Castellanos

2016

Rev. Saúde Pública

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“…guidance from CCA research on structures (e.g., Sastry, 2016). I posed questions such as "What are the broader socio-economic constraints on PLWHA organizations?"…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Inspired by subaltern and postcolonial studies, the CCA examines the interplay of agency, culture, dialogue, and structure in the health of the marginalized in postcolonial contexts (Dutta, 2008). It prioritizes inquiry that challenges the dominant architecture of Western knowledge/illness models and contributes cultural constructions of health by the marginalized (e.g., Sastry, 2016). Structures form the economic bases of the material and social components of society.…”

Section: The Structural Contexts Of Plwhamentioning

confidence: 99%

An Institutional Field of People Living with HIV/AIDS Organizations in Tanzania: Agency, Culture, Dialogue, and Structure

Olufowote

2017

Front. Commun.

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Communication research on public health organizations and people living with HIV/ AIDS (PLWHA) have paid insufficient attention to PLWHA organizations. These organizations, constituted and operated by PLWHA, advocate on behalf of PLWHA with more powerful institutions in society and serve as sources of empowerment and support. I drew on the culture-centered approach to health communication and institutional perspectives on health organizations to explore PLWHA organizations in Tanzania, namely, their cultural and structural contexts, agency, and dialogue. Tanzania has 1.5 million PLWHA and a 5.3% adult prevalence rate that ranks it as 12th highest in the world. Through interviews with leaders of 10 PLWHA organizations, I found a cultural context of HIV stigma and discrimination, a structural context consisting of corruption and bureaucratic politics in governing bodies as well as lack of access to resources, agency to impact PLWHA and members of society in a variety of ways, and processes of dialogue within advocacy networks of PLWHA organizations and in network collaborations with the government. I conclude with implications for improving the organizations' interactions with their structural context and for developing the contribution from the culture-centered approach to health communication on structures as health organizations and systems.Keywords: culture-centered approach, hiV/aiDs, institutional perspectives on health organizations, people living with hiV/aiDs organizations, sub-saharan africa People living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) organizations are understudied in communication research. PLWHA organizations are non-profit organizations (NPOs) constituted and operated primarily by volunteers who are PLWHA. These organizations emerge out of dissatisfaction with responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic by more powerful societal actors (e.g., government); they pursue the interests of PLWHA by advocating on behalf of PLWHA in their communities and societies (Maguire et al., 2001). It is important to focus on PLWHA organizations because PLWHA in the Global South face continuing problems such as stigma and discrimination (Okoror et al., 2014). Moreover, these organizations have implications for the empowerment, support, and wellbeing of PLWHA.Although one body of communication research on health organizations has recognized a variety of public health organizations (e.g

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“…While these efforts have positively impacted outcomes of interest such as teen pregnancy rates, care-seeking behaviors, communication about sexuality, and use of contraceptives, in the context of sexual health inequities we find the exclusion of community voice and a discussion of the structural factors that silence marginalized individuals a considerable limitation. The growing body of literature about the culture-centered approach in the context of sexual health utilizes textual narratives to inform findings (Acharya & Dutta, 2011; Dutta & Acharya, 2014; Sastry, 2015); we are unaware of other research that uses digital storytelling as a culture-centered approach in the context of youth sexuality.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Puerto Rican Latina Youth Coming Out to Talk About Sexuality and Identity

Fiddian-Green

Gubrium

Peterson

2016

Health Communication

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Public health efforts focused on Latina youth sexuality are most commonly framed by the syndemic of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, a narrow and often heteronormative focus that perpetuates silences that contribute to health inequities and overlooks the growing need for increased education, awareness, and support for LGBTQ youth. This article presents findings from the project Let’s Talk About Sex: Digital Storytelling for Puerto Rican Latina Youth, which used a culturally centered, narrative-based approach for analyzing participants’ own specifications of sexual values and practices. The strength of digital storytelling lies in its utility as an innovative tool for community-based and culturally situated research, as well as in its capacity to open up new spaces for health communication. Here we present two “coming out” case studies to illustrate the value of digital storytelling in supporting the development of meaningful and culturally relevant health promotion efforts for LGBTQ-identified Puerto Rican Latina youth across the life span.

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Long Distance Truck Drivers and the Structural Context of Health: A Culture-Centered Investigation of Indian Truckers’ Health Narratives

Cited by 24 publications

References 22 publications

Meanings and vulnerability to HIV/AIDS among long-distance truck drivers in Brazil

Meanings and vulnerability to HIV/AIDS among long-distance truck drivers in Brazil

An Institutional Field of People Living with HIV/AIDS Organizations in Tanzania: Agency, Culture, Dialogue, and Structure

Puerto Rican Latina Youth Coming Out to Talk About Sexuality and Identity

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