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. 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. [1] 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). 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
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