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Culturally Responsive Health Promotion in Puerto Rican Communities: A Structuralist Approach

School of Public Health and Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts-Amherst

David X. Marquez, PhD

Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition, University of Illinois at Chicago

Elena T. Carbone, DrPH, RD, LDN

Department of Nutrition at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst

Jeanne-Marie R. Stacciarini, PhD, RN

College of Nursing, University of Florida, Gainesville

Jennifer W. Foster, PhD, CNM

Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia

This literature review discusses the value of the structuralist approach as an integrated theoretical and methodological framework for participatory cultural assessments designed to capture the cultural dynamics of those affected by health disparities. Drawing from principles of the Lévi-Straussian strand of structural anthropology found in contemporary cultural studies, and using the Puerto Rican cultural experience as an example, the authors present the distinction between deep and surface structures of cultural knowledge and meaning and highlight information-processing and behavioral systems influenced by the complexity of cognitive and social representations of cultural structures. To understand and address the deeply rooted web of ideology, norms, and practices that influence health decision making and behavioral responses, the authors show the need for ethnographic narrative inquiry beyond surface manifestations of culture. Finally, the authors discuss the implications of the structuralist approach for culturally responsive health education and other health promotion interventions.

Key Words: cultural structures • cultural assessments • Puerto Ricans • community health assessment • health disparity • structural anthropology

Health Promotion Practice, Vol. 9, No. 2, 149-158 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1524839907307675


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