Health communication is the study and application of communicating promotional health information, such as in public health campaigns, health education, and between doctors and patients. The purpose of disseminating health information is to influence personal health choices by improving health literacy. Communication is a dynamic process, meaning that both the source and the receivers of shared information will constantly exchange roles. Health communication that is dynamic provides both caregivers and patients with a better change of experiencing meaningful insights, leading to more positive health outcomes. However, how communication is received and processed is different for each individual, meaning that information and understanding that is derived from a conversation depends on each individuals prior experience, interpersonal relationships, cultural patterns, social norms and so on. Due to individual differences, connections can be built through strategies such as shared decision-making, motivational interviewing, and narrative medicine.Pre, A. D., & Overton, B. C. (2023). Communicating About Health (7th ed.). Oxford University Press Academic US. https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/books/9780197664339
Because effective health communication must be tailored to the audience and the situation research into health communication seeks to refine communication strategies to inform people about ways to enhance health or avoid specific health risks. Academically, health communication is a discipline within the field of communication studies. The field of health communication has been growing and evolving in recent years. The field plays a crucial role in advancing health in collaboration with patients and medical professionals.Studies have established that patients often judge the quality of their physician's interpersonal effectiveness, or the physician's "bed-side manner," as a major indicator of general competence. Research shows health communication helps with behavioral change in humans and conveys specific policies and practices that can serve as alternatives to certain unhealthy behaviors. The health communication field is considered a multidisciplinary field of research theory that encourages actions, practices, and evidence that contribute to improving the healthcare field. The use of various skills and techniques to enhance change among patients and many others, and focus on behavioral and social changes to improve the public health outcome.
Health communication may variously seek to: increase audience knowledge and awareness of a health issue influence behaviors and attitudes toward a health issue demonstrate healthy practices demonstrate the benefits of behavior changes to public health outcomes advocate a position on a health issue or policy increase demand or support for health services argue against misconceptions about health improve patient-provider dialogue enhance effectiveness in health care teams
Definition and origins Health communication is an area of research that focuses on the scope and implications of meaningful expressions and messages in situations or circumstances associated with health and health care. Health communication is considered an interdisciplinary field of research, encompassing medical science, public health, and communication studies. Health Communication emphasizes more than the dissemination of facts, it involves the collaborative context of a shared understanding about health concepts and actions across different audiences. According to Communicating About Health: Current Issues and Perspectives, health communication includes, cultural, interpersonal, physical, social, organizational and political processes that shape how people experience health information and health decisions.
Health communication aims to increase knowledge by letting the public know what to do in a health crisis, be able to handle it smoothly and clearly without as much panic as when first discovering an illness or disease unknown to the public. Which research has shown that it can lead to behavioral change. It emphasizes that communication involves verbal and non-verbal messages between a sender and receiver. Effective communication is crucial for health-related outcomes and even situational analysis, which includes evaluating the audience to help guide the choice of appropriate messages and channels applied.
The origins of health communication can be traced to early medical and public health practices. In the 4th century BCE, the writings of the Greek physician Hippocrates highlighted connections between health, disease, and environmental factors. In the 18th century, British naval surgeon James Lind documented the causes and prevention of scurvy, contributing to early evidence-based health communication through medical publications Treatise of the Scurvy in 1753.
The term health communications was used in 1961 when the National Health Council organized a National Health Forum to discuss challenges faced in the communications of health information (Helen, 1962). The term was used again in 1962 when Surgeon General Luther Terry organized a conference on health communication to discuss how various techniques can make health information available to the public (US Department of Health Education and Welfare, 1963).USPHS. (1963). Surgeon General's Conference on Health Communications November 5–8, 1962. PHS publication, 5-8. The term was adopted by members of an interest group at ICA, International Communication Association in 1975. The research of health communication surrounds the development of effective messages about health, the dissemination of health-related information through broadcast, print, and electronic media, and the role of inter personal relationships in health communities. At the core of all of the communication is the idea of health and the emphasis of health. The goal of health communication research is to identify and provide better and more effective communication strategies that will improve the overall health of society. (Atkin & Silk, page 489)
Research
There are many purposes and reasons why health communication research is important and how it improves the healthcare field. The training programs of Health Care Professionals, or HCP, can be adapted and developed based on health communication research. (Atkin & Silk, 495) One major example of a specialized research program is the Health Communication Research Unit at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, aimed at studying the challenges to heath communication faced by cultural diversity. Due to there being a diverse culture that makes up the group of patients within the health care field, communication to other cultures has been taught and has been made a focus in health care training classes. Research suggests that nonverbal and verbal communication between health care professionals and patient can lead to improved patient outcomes. According to Atkin and Silk on page 496 some health care facilities, like hospitals are providing training and education materials to patients. The goal of hospitals doing this is to allow for patients to have a better outcome due to better communication skills. Over the years, there has been much research done on health communication. For example, researchers want to know if people are more effectively motivated by a positive message versus a negative message. Researchers examine ideas like, are people better motivated by ideas of wealth and safety or an idea of illness and death. Researchers are examining which dimensions of persuasive incentives are most influential: physical health versus economic, versus psychological, versus moral, versus social. (Atkin & Silk, 497) Impact of the Health Campaign-After research has been conducted and analyzed on the effects of health communication, it can be concluded that a health communication campaign that is requiring a behavior change causes the desired behavior change in about 7%-10% or more in the people who are in the campaign site than those who are in the control group. Also, the effects are stronger for adoption of a new behavior than cessation of a current behavior, about 12% higher.
When evaluating the effectiveness of a health campaign, several factors are considered, including audience receptivity, the clarity and volume of the message, the communication channels used, and the broader communication context. Audience responsiveness may vary depending on the nature and framing of specific messages. The media channel and how the message is reached by the audience can affect the effectiveness of the health campaign. (Atkin & Silk, page 498)
Training Health communication professionals are specifically trained in methods and strategies for effective communication of public health messages, with qualifications in research, strategic development, and evaluating effectiveness. Health communication is taught in master's and doctoral programs. The Coalition for Health Communication maintains a list of such programs.
The International Association for Communication in Healthcare (EACH) is a global organization aimed at improving the health communication sector between practitioners and patients. One major program EACH offers is "tEACH". tEACH is a specific subgroup focused on aiding teachers across the globe with tools and resources for promoting proper healthcare communication. The program consists of training modules, organized conferences, as well as project support.
Scholars and practitioners in health communication are often trained in disciplines such as communication studies, sociology, psychology, public health, or medicine and then focus within their field on either health or communication. Practitioners are pragmatic and draw from social-scientific scholarship, theories from the humanities, and professional fields such as education, management, law and marketing (Maibach 2008). Professionals trained in health communication encounter a wide range of employment opportunities spanning between the public, private, and volunteer sectors and have the opportunity for a large amount of career mobility. Examples of jobs in each of these categories include federal, state, and local health departments in the public sector, Pharmaceutical companies and large corporations in the private sector, and various non-profit organizations such as the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association in the volunteer sector.
Overview International Communication Association officially recognized health communication in 1975; in 1997, the American Public Health Association categorized health communication as a discipline of Public Health Education and Health Promotion.
Careers in the field of health communication range widely between the public, private, and volunteer sectors. Professionals of health communication are distinctively trained to conduct communication research, develop successful and repeatable campaigns for health promotion and advocacy, and to evaluate how effective these strategies have been for future campaigns.