Our family portrait: the church as a model of social support

The church means many things to many people. Some would describe it as a culture, network, organization, or family. The purpose of this study is to understand of the role of the church in providing social support to individual church members and to uncover meanings prescribed by individuals about th...

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Main Author: Liza Ngenye
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. 2018-05-01
Series:Qualitative Research in Medicine & Healthcare
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.pagepressjournals.org/index.php/qrmh/article/view/6996
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author Liza Ngenye
author_facet Liza Ngenye
author_sort Liza Ngenye
collection DOAJ
description The church means many things to many people. Some would describe it as a culture, network, organization, or family. The purpose of this study is to understand of the role of the church in providing social support to individual church members and to uncover meanings prescribed by individuals about the nature of social support in the church. I analyze the context in which church practices are embedded, the processes of creating social support, and the meanings of church-related activities and gatherings that contribute to social support. The study examines how the health-related needs of church members are not only physiological but also accounted for in emotional, psychological and social terms. By using metaphor as a framework for interpretation of members’ meanings, my analysis of social support is broadened to include religious contexts. This study adds to growing literature on the connection between religion, communication and health.
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publishDate 2018-05-01
publisher KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.
record_format Article
series Qualitative Research in Medicine & Healthcare
spelling doaj-art-3a0b6c52c01e4a02a875bbd0659885b72025-08-20T03:56:13ZengKeAi Communications Co., Ltd.Qualitative Research in Medicine & Healthcare2532-20442018-05-012110.4081/qrmh.2018.6996Our family portrait: the church as a model of social supportLiza Ngenye0Department of Communication, George Mason University, Fairfax, VAThe church means many things to many people. Some would describe it as a culture, network, organization, or family. The purpose of this study is to understand of the role of the church in providing social support to individual church members and to uncover meanings prescribed by individuals about the nature of social support in the church. I analyze the context in which church practices are embedded, the processes of creating social support, and the meanings of church-related activities and gatherings that contribute to social support. The study examines how the health-related needs of church members are not only physiological but also accounted for in emotional, psychological and social terms. By using metaphor as a framework for interpretation of members’ meanings, my analysis of social support is broadened to include religious contexts. This study adds to growing literature on the connection between religion, communication and health.https://www.pagepressjournals.org/index.php/qrmh/article/view/6996ChurchSocial supportFamilyHealth communication.
spellingShingle Liza Ngenye
Our family portrait: the church as a model of social support
Qualitative Research in Medicine & Healthcare
Church
Social support
Family
Health communication.
title Our family portrait: the church as a model of social support
title_full Our family portrait: the church as a model of social support
title_fullStr Our family portrait: the church as a model of social support
title_full_unstemmed Our family portrait: the church as a model of social support
title_short Our family portrait: the church as a model of social support
title_sort our family portrait the church as a model of social support
topic Church
Social support
Family
Health communication.
url https://www.pagepressjournals.org/index.php/qrmh/article/view/6996
work_keys_str_mv AT lizangenye ourfamilyportraitthechurchasamodelofsocialsupport