My SciELO
Services on Demand
Article
Indicators
- Cited by SciELO
Related links
- Similars in SciELO
Share
Revista Cubana de Información en Ciencias de la Salud
On-line version ISSN 2307-2113
Abstract
CARAN, Gustavo; ARAUJO, Ronaldo and TRAVIESO-RODRIGUEZ, Críspulo. Identity and interactive health communication: the discourse of people with low vision on the social networks. Rev. cuba. inf. cienc. salud [online]. 2019, vol.30, n.4 Epub Dec 31, 2019. ISSN 2307-2113.
The social movement Bengala Verde (Green Signal Flare) emerged in Brazil with the purpose of fostering the social involvement of people with low vision. The use and appropriation of the digital environment by this movement shows that dissemination of health information is a fundamental discourse resource conditioned by (self-) conceptions about characteristic modes of thinking, feeling and reacting of people with low vision. The purpose of the study was to explore the discourse of these people with respect to their own social identity on social media and networks. Based on a interactive health communication perspective, an analysis was performed of YouTube videos and publications on Facebook and Instagram by the Stargardt Virtual Group, a virtual community linked to the Bengala Verde movement and made up of people with low vision suffering from Stargardt's disease. Starting from a selection of fragments of these discourse excerpts and their coding, 42 distinguishing traits were identified, grouped into a conceptual model of eight synthetic categories. These traits are constructed interactively through a process of development patterned at moments of agreement, disagreement and sense of humor. Discourse resources contribute to consolidate a unique identity, different from that of blind people, but similar as to the legal framework of people with visual disabilities.
Keywords : people with disabilities; low vision; identity; interactive health communication; social networks.