Privileged Discourses of Asthma Management Disparities

Background: Asthma management disparities (AMD) between African-American and White-American adolescents are an alarming and persistent threat to the health of the world's people. The way advantaged and disadvantaged groups write and talk about these disparities, their discourses, reveals important public health knowledge for a social justice critique of statewide and national asthma policies. Purpose: A critical discourse analysis (CDA) of privileged AMD discourses within a Washington State planning process for asthma. Aim 1: Describe the AMD discourses that are introduced, promoted, and/or minimized by public health leadership in the course of a statewide planning process. Method/Research design: January - March 2011: 1) record and observe a State asthma planning meeting (n>17); 2) Observe the conclusion of an asthma Photovoice event produced by disadvantaged African American adolescents for public health leadership. Measures: audio-transcripts, meeting materials, and observations; procedures: participant-observation. Analysis: This CDA will use linguistic and contextual analysis of texts and observations to identify how persons, events, actions, and arguments are introduced, promoted, or minimized between and amongst groups. Results: As part of a larger study that also examines the discourses of the disadvantaged, this poster presentation will identify important discourses of asthma management disparities and illuminate which of these are introduced, promoted, or minimized by privileged public health leadership in Washington State. Implications: CDA utilizing recorded texts and contextual observations from public health leadership meetings is an innovative and appropriate technology for policy analysis and social justice research.