Health Communication Challenges For The 21st Century

This popular and engaging text on health communication is now revised and updated in a second edition that incorporates recent research and boasts new material on topics such as crisis communication, social disparities in health, and systemic reform. Fully revised second edition of this popular and authoritative text Includes fresh material on topics such as crisis communication, health care reform, global health issues, and political issues in health communication New case studies, examples, and updated glossary keep the work relevant and student-friendly Provides effective strategies for healthcare organizations and individuals in communicating with patients Updated and enhanced online resources, including PowerPoint slides, test bank, and instructors manual, available upon publication at www.wiley.com/go/wright

The anthrax incidents following the 9/11 terrorist attacks put the spotlight on the nation's public health agencies, placing it under an unprecedented scrutiny that added new dimensions to the complex issues considered in this report. The Future of the Public's Health in the 21st Century reaffirms the vision of Healthy People 2010, and outlines a systems approach to assuring the nation's health in practice, research, and policy. This approach focuses on joining the unique resources and perspectives of diverse sectors and entities and challenges these groups to work in a concerted, strategic way to promote and protect the public's health. Focusing on diverse partnerships as the framework for public health, the book discusses: The need for a shift from an individual to a population-based approach in practice, research, policy, and community engagement. The status of the governmental public health infrastructure and what needs to be improved, including its interface with the health care delivery system. The roles nongovernment actors, such as academia, business, local communities and the media can play in creating a healthy nation. Providing an accessible analysis, this book will be important to public health policy-makers and practitioners, business and community leaders, health advocates, educators and journalists.

Health Communication: From Theory to Practice is a much needed resource for the fast-growing field of health communication. It combines a comprehensive introduction to current issues, theories, and special topics in health communication with a hands-on guide to program development and implementation. While the book is designed for students, professionals and organizations with no significant field experience, it also includes advanced topics for health communication practitioners, public health experts, researchers, and health care providers with an interest in this field.

The communication of health information is a critical determinant for the achievement and maintenance of health at the individual and population level. Health communication can take on various forms, including the use of social media, reading of a children's story, policy development and management, the patient-physician partnership, and via community-based participatory research, for example. This book provides a broad perspective on selected areas of health communication and addresses how we, as a population, can utilise communication to achieve what should be a basic human right in the twenty-first century. We are living in changing times, and how we communicate health information is happening more rapidly than ever before. This book highlights selected areas of research, action, and recommendations for implementation that are applicable to all sectors involved in promoting health and preventing disease. This book is not only for the educator, but the learner, as well. Both parties are essential for effective policy-making that will enable a healthy citizenry to meet the contemporary demands posed by the twenty-first century. The author hopes that you, the reader, will reference this book often as you educate, learn, and communicate about health so that it is more accessible and adaptable to the society in which we live.

Now in its second edition, Health Communication: From Theory to Practice provides a comprehensive introduction to theory, intervention design, current issues, and special topics in health communication. The book also represents a hands-on guide to program development, implementation, and evaluation. This second edition further emphasizes the importance of a people-centered and participatory approach to health communication interventions, which takes into account key social determinants of health as well as the interconnection of various health and social fields. While maintaining a strong focus on the importance of behavioral, social, and organizational results as key outcomes of health communication interventions, this second edition also includes new or updated information, theoretical models, resources, and case studies on: Health equity Urban health New media Emergency and risk communication Strategic partnerships in health communication Policy communication and public advocacy Cultural competence Health literacy The evaluation of health communication interventions To access a companion website with instructor resources (PowerPoint presentations for all chapters, sample assignments, and other resources), please visit www.wiley.com/go/schiavo2e This title is also available as a mobile App from MedHand Mobile Libraries. Buy it now from iTunes, Google Play or the MedHand Store.

We are what we eat. That old expression seems particularly poignant every time we have our blood drawn for a routine physical to check our cholesterol levels. And, it's not just what we eat that affects our health. Whole ranges of behaviors ultimately make a difference in how we feel and how we maintain our health. Lifestyle choices have enormous impact on our health and well being. But, how do we communicate the language of good health so that it is uniformly received-and accepted-by people from different cultures and backgrounds? Take, for example, the case of a 66 year old Latina. She has been told by her doctor that she should have a mammogram. But her sense of fatalism tells her that it is better not to know if anything is wrong. To know that something is wrong will cause her distress and this may well lead to even more health problems. Before she leaves her doctor's office she has decided not to have a mammogram-that is until her doctor points out that having a mammogram is a way to take care of herself so that she can continue to take care of her family. In this way, the decision to have a mammogram feels like a positive step. Public health communicators and health professionals face dilemmas like this every day. Speaking of Health looks at the challenges of delivering important messages to different audiences. Using case studies in the areas of diabetes, mammography, and mass communication campaigns, it examines the ways in which messages must be adapted to the unique informational needs of their audiences if they are to have any real impact. Speaking of Health looks at basic theories of communication and behavior change and focuses on where they apply and where they don't. By suggesting creative strategies and guidelines for speaking to diverse audiences now and in the future, the Institute of Medicine seeks to take health communication into the 21st century. In an age where we are inundated by multiple messages every day, this book will be a critical tool for all who are interested in communicating with diverse communities about health issues.

Bioterrorism, drug-resistant disease, transmission of disease by global travel . . . there's no shortage of challenges facing America's public health officials. Men and women preparing to enter the field require state-of-the-art training to meet these increasing threats to the public health. But are the programs they rely on provide the high caliber professional training they require? Who Will Keep the Public Healthy? provides an overview of the past, present, and future of public health education, assessing its readiness to provide the training and education needed to prepare men and women to face 21st century challenges. Advocating an ecological approach to public health, the Institute of Medicine examines the role of public health schools and degree-granting programs, medical schools, nursing schools, and government agencies, as well as other institutions that foster public health education and leadership. Specific recommendations address the content of public health education, qualifications for faculty, availability of supervised practice, opportunities for cross-disciplinary research and education, cooperation with government agencies, and government funding for education. Eight areas of critical importance to public health education in the 21st century are examined in depth: informatics, genomics, communication, cultural competence, community-based participatory research, global health, policy and law, and public health ethics. The book also includes a discussion of the policy implications of its ecological framework.

Successful communication can help to prevent health problems, promote healthy behaviors and lifestyles, and overcome health challenges. However, various issues have created obstacles for the promotion of health communication, including low health literacy, the reluctance of patients to admit their lack of understanding, the overestimation by health professionals of a patient’s level of understanding, and insufficient health literacy tools, to name a few. It is thus essential to convey the latest communication models and practices being used to increase health literacy and provide adequate health information to society. Health Communication Models and Practices in Interpersonal and Media Contexts: Emerging Research and Opportunities explores and analyzes the fundamentals, models, and dimensions of health communication and offers practical solutions for better communications with direct outcomes in the optimization of citizens’ health literacy. The book also discusses and proposes more effective health communication models and practices as a tool for the construction of more solid and evident health outcomes. Covering topics such as cancer prevention, health professionals’ communication, and models of health communication, this text is essential for health professionals, communication professionals, professors, teachers, researchers, academicians, and students.