The Handbook of Communication in (pre & post)Pandemics: South Asian
Perspectives on Securing Health and Well-Being



We are inviting authors to submit chapter manuscripts for a forthcoming
handbook, tentatively titled The Handbook of Communication in (pre &
post)Pandemics: South Asian Perspectives on Securing Health and
Well-Being, under consideration by Routledge and edited by Gita Bamezai
(Former Head, Communication Research, Indian Institute of Mass
Communication), Pradeep Sopory (Wayne State University), and Uttaran
Dutta (Arizona State University).



Research on health communication in South Asia tends to center around
media health campaigns and media health discourse analysis. The proposed
handbook seeks to shift the focus from the media as a site of health
communication to other contexts such as communities, organizations, work
groups, and family. It seeks to highlight everyday South Asian
experiences of communicative exchanges about health and well-being in
these contexts, which may be located in both the geographical South Asia
as well as its Diasporas, through de-colonial, indigenous, and
de-westernized perspectives.


Overview:

The proposed edited handbook will examine communication related to
physical and mental health and wellbeing during (and beyond) the
Covid-19 pandemic in South Asia. The region comprises eight countries
(Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and
Maldives) that share many geopolitical, socio-structural, and cultural
characteristics. Its citizens face a range of noncommunicable and
communicable disease burdens in the context of a dense population (1.9
billion people, 25% of global population) and an inadequate health
infrastructure. The Covid-19 (& post) pandemic scenario has added to the
health burdens and posed significant short- and long-term challenges to
people’s physical and mental wellbeing. The handbook chapters will cover
the full range of communication contexts from intrapersonal to
societal/cultural, with a focus on communities, organizations, work
groups, and family, to examine communicative contents, structures, and
processes that both enhance and harm health and well-being in South
Asian countries and its diasporas.



Contributions from different disciplines, such as anthropology,
economics, political science, psychology, public health, and sociology,
examining different aspects of health communication are highly welcome.
We solicit both theoretical and empirical works. The handbook is open to
all quantitative, qualitative, and rhetorical/critical/cultural
methodological approaches.


Topics:

Communication about health and well-being can be investigated in several
contexts, including intrapersonal, interpersonal, family, work group,
organization, community, media, and societal/cultural. Contributors are
expected to examine communicative exchanges to create meanings about
physical and mental health and well-being predominantly in contexts
other than media. Our expectation is that contributors will examine the
structure and content of common South Asian communicative experiences
and their relationships to health for topics such as, but not limited
to, the following:



Adverse health news and disease diagnosis; Community interactions and
relations; Conflict and resistance; Disabilities; Disasters and public
health emergency events; Doctor interactions with nurses and medical
staff; Education and training curriculum and practices; Environmental
health issues; Extended and “joint” multi-generational families and
clans; Fear appeals and vaccine hesitancy; Food, hunger, and poverty;
Gossip and taunting; Hate and discriminatory talk; Health activism and
social justice; Health for all and access to health infrastructures;
Health literacy; Healthy practices; Hierarchy of communication
structures; History and health communication; Information/digital
divide; Inter-organization and -agency

coordination and collaborations; Intersectionality (caste, class,
gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation) and its implications; Mental
health and suicide; Migration; Participatory approaches; Patient rage
toward doctors and medical staff; Patient-health provider interactions;
Positive deviancy approaches to behavior and social change; Provider
interactions with families of patients; Ragging/hazing in educational
institutions; Risk communication and pandemics. Sexual harassment in
public and work settings; Spirituality, religion, and faith; Sports and
physical health activities; Technology of communication, including
mHealth and e-health; Terminal health condition and end-of-life; Traffic
accidents and road rage; Underserved and marginalized communities;
Work-family negotiation.


Proposal Submission Guidelines:

Chapter proposals should have the following components and be combined
into a single document for submission:

1.  Title page with contact information for all authors;

2.  Abstract (300-500 words, excluding references) clearly explaining:

a.  Purpose and the contents of the proposed chapter; and

b.  How the proposed chapter relates to the overall objectives of the book.

3.  Working bibliography for the chapter in APA style (7th edition); and,

4.  Brief author biographical statement (max. 150 words) written in the
third person that includes:

a.  Current position and affiliation;

b.  Highest degree held, field, and institution granting that degree; and

c.  Relevant area of research and/or relevant research project.



Proposals should be submitted by February 15th, 2023 (for other
important dates see below).


Submissions and Inquiries:

Chapter proposal submissions and inquiries for further information
should be sent to Gita Bamezai,[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>; Pradeep Sopory,
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>; or, Uttaran Dutta, [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>.


Full-Chapter Guidelines:

Full chapters should, at the minimum, include an introduction to the
main identified communicative issue, theoretical postulates and
conceptual framework(s) in the context of health communication, review
of literature (paying attention to contemporary debates/discussions in
the domain of health communication), suggestions for a research agenda,
and implications for policy and system changes. The chapter should be
located/grounded in the South Asian experience. Full chapters should be
between 5,000-7,000 words, including abstract (125 words), references,
tables, and figures.


Important Dates (with some flexibility):

Chapter proposal due: February15th, 2023

Notification of acceptance sent to authors: March31st, 2023 First draft
of full chapter manuscripts due: August 1st, 2023 Manuscript reviews
sent to authors: October 1, 2023

Revised draft of chapter manuscripts due: December 15th, 2023 Final
manuscript decisions sent to authors: January 15th, 2024


Additional Note:

Submitted work must not have been previously published or be under
consideration for publication elsewhere. Eventual publication will be
subject to the outcome of editorial and peer review.