Field Of Health Communication Research Articles

From Dominant Perspective to Critical Perspective in Health Communication: Analysis of Turkish Television Health Programs in terms of Critical Health Communication

Health communication, which has become a discipline since the mid-twentieth century, has become more crucial especially with the complexness of healthcare applications and health information practices. This has led to an increase in the number of researches and academic studies in the field of health communication and, also different approaches emerged regarding this debate. In order to improve the health of the individual and society, the theories used in the field of health communication are generally limited to individual information and behavior change models. Both the health behavior models, and health communication theory/models used are socio-psychological based approaches. Therefore, the methods used are individually focused. As a result, communication is typically understood as health information transfer and perception. After the changing economic-political approach and public broadcasting replaced by private broadcasting in the 1980s, it’s observed that the health communication practices on television started to show an approach towards the consumption of health services and products. This view mentioned above was called ‘dominant health communication’ in the 1990s and a new approach of the field emerged. Critical approach discusses that health is a social phenomenon and that all responsibility cannot be given to the individual. In this case, outside the individual factors such as economy, politics, culture, environment, education gender and even geography are important in the development and outcomes of health. In this study, it will be discussed that the ongoing health communication practices, which is termed dominant health communication, do not provide a solution to the existing health inequality in the society, on the contrary, they provide the reproduction and dissemination of the ideologies of the sovereign powers and a consent for the consumption of health products and services in the society. Therefore, in this study, health programs on mainstream television channels in Turkey will be analyzed in terms of critical health communication. Critical discourse analysis will be used as the main method of the study. Keywords: critical health communication, dominant health communication, critical discourse analysis, Turkish television health programs

Fostering Interdisciplinary Boundary Spanning in Health Communication: A Call for a Paradigm Shift

ABSTRACT Scholarship in the field of health communication is broad, with interdisciplinary contributions from researchers trained in a variety of fields including communication, nursing, medicine, pharmacy, public health, and social work. In this paper, we explore the role of “health communication boundary spanners” (HCBS), individuals whose scholarly work and academic appointment reflect dual citizenship in both the communication discipline and the health professions or public health. Using a process of critical reflective inquiry, we elucidate opportunities and challenges associated with HCBS across the spectrum of health communication in order to provide guidance for individuals pursuing boundary spanning roles and those who supervise and mentor them. This dual citizen role suggests that HCBS have unique skills, identities, perspectives, and practices that contribute new ways of being and knowing that transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries. The health communication field is evolving in response to the need to address significant healthcare and policy problems. No one discipline has the ability to single-handedly fix our current healthcare systems. Narrative data from this study illustrate the importance of seeing HCBS work beyond simply being informed by disciplinary knowledge. Rather, we suggest that adapting ways of knowing and definitions of expertise is an integral part of the solution to solving persistent health problems.

Health communication research in the Arab world: A bibliometric analysis

ObjectiveHealth communication is a novel field in the Arab world. This study aimed to describe and characterise health communication research activity in the region.Methods and analysisThe PubMed database was used...

Research on the Relationship Between Perceived Social Support and Exercise Behavior of User in Social Network

A growing number of information technology systems and services have occurred to change users' attitudes or behaviors or both in the rapid development of mobile social media platforms. It is a new topic in the field of health communication whether the digitization and socialization of individual exercise behavior can stimulate health behavior. WeRun is a typical platform for the digitization and socialization of individual exercise. Based on 689 WeRun users' questionnaires, this study first repairs the missing and abnormal data by BP neural network. Then, the decision tree is used to evaluate the relationship between the perceived social support and exercise behavior under different intervention conditions, and detects the heterogeneous intervention effects for different pre-intervention profiles. In addition, this study further discusses the performances of social support features of persuasion technology in the WeRun. The data-driven method used in this study is beneficial to reducing self-selection bias and evaluate the intervention effect. The decision tree does not require decision-makers to have much expertise or to make parameter hypotheses while evaluating the intervention effect, and the results are more direct and intelligible. The results show that the decision tree can detect the heterogeneous intervention effect. In some cases, there is not a perfectly positive correlation between the degree of perceived social support and the number of average daily steps, and the relationship with friends has a great impact on the user's perceived social support. In addition, it also reveals the relationship between social comparison and perceived social support, and their interaction on exercise behavior. Finally, this study provides practical suggestions for the design and operation of e-health social network platform. The platforms are supposed to take corresponding persuasive strategies according to the various characteristics of users, so as to improve the continuous attention and participation of users.

Follow the heart or the mind? Examining cognitive and affective attitude on HPV vaccination intention

ABSTRACT Human papillomavirus (HPV) is associated with various serious diseases including cervical cancer and genital warts. Although the HPV vaccine has been commended as a breakthrough for preventing HPV and HPV-related diseases, the uptake rate remains inadequate and lagging. This dissatisfaction is possibly attributed to a component of interventions that is insufficiently related to individuals’ intentions to get vaccinated against HPV – attitude. With a sample of 430 participants, this study examined which attitudinal component (cognitive vs. affective) is a stronger influencer on the intention to get the HPV vaccine. This study also investigated the influence of risk perceptions of HPV on the attitude and intention of getting the vaccine. Results revealed that cognitive attitude is the sole predictor of intention and mediates the relationship between perceived susceptibility to HPV and the intention to get the vaccine. Theoretical and practical contributions to the field of health communication and HPV vaccine promotion are further discussed.

Mobilizing knowledge in behaviour change to promote health; the case of the Behaviour Change Wheel

Abstract Issue/problem Over the past decades, researchers from many fields have built an impressive body of knowledge regarding behaviour change. However, the use of this knowledge for accurately designing/delivering/executing behaviour change programs is challenging for many public health practitioners. Description of the problem To support effective knowledge mobilization in behaviour change and to build a coherent and useful body of scientific evidence, leading researchers in behavioural sciences have developed and refined a number of tools for designing interventions. Among these tools, the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW) was built on an impressive effort to synthetize available evidence regarding intervention development frameworks, behaviour change theories, and behaviour change techniques. However, studies highlighted some issues associated with the use of these methodological innovations. Working with our public health partners in the field of health communication, we realized that applying models such as the BCW is far from being mundane practices. To support optimal knowledge mobilization in behavioural sciences, we are developing a research agenda to understand perceptions and motivations of public health practitioners toward innovations such as the BCW and to develop and evaluate knowledge mobilization strategies. Results The initiative will contribute to the development of new scientific knowledge regarding mechanisms underlying effective knowledge mobilization in behaviour change and will further support the adoption of these evidence-based practices within the field of public health. Lessons Although rapidly adopted by the community of researchers, it is not clear whether or not public health practitioners would be as willing, or capable of using the BCW to design and deliver programs. Issues regarding knowledge mobilization in behaviour change should be addressed to improve the uptake of this knowledge in practice.

Examining HIV/AIDS-Related Stigma at Play: Power, Structure, and Implications for HIV Interventions

ABSTRACT Drawing on critical theoretical perspectives and ethnographic field research related to HIV/AIDS in northern India, this paper argues for a cultured-centered approach to stigma reduction interventions and communication practices that are based on an assessment of larger social and structural processes on the one hand and the lived experiences and narratives of people living with HIV (PLWH) on the other. This paper suggests that while the complex nature of stigma, particularly as it relates to HIV/AIDS, makes it difficult to understand and respond to, this problem is further exacerbated by a largely individual and behavior-centered research that still dominates the field of Health Communication. Such research sees human cognition as the main source of stigma and underplays issues of power, structure, domination, and control. More specifically, and with concrete examples from the everyday lived experiences of PLWH – such as their experiences within family and health-care settings, this paper demonstrates how power and structure deeply impact their lives and remain central to their experience of (and resistance to) stigma, thus opening up space for alternative theorizing and practices in Health Communication.

Selling health and happiness how influencers communicate on Instagram about dieting and exercise: mixed methods research

BackgroundEating disorders among adolescents are an ongoing public health concern. Sustainable health promotion programmes require a thorough understanding of the social context in which minors engage. Initial studies show that young people make extensive use of social networks in order to exchange experiences and gather information. During this process their (buying) behaviour is significantly affected by so-called influencers.MethodsThe exploratory research studies non-campaign driven health communication on dieting and exercise by influencers in social networks with a focus on content, techniques and visible impact. In a mixed methods approach, we initially analysed 1000 posts from influencers on Instagram quantitatively. Subsequently we conducted an in-depth content analysis of 9 extreme and 27 typical communication threads.ResultsInfluencers gain the trust and friendship of their followers by designing body-shape focused visual content and targeted communication techniques. They identify and define diet and exercise as factors to be controlled for body perfection. By consuming dietary supplements and wearing tight-fitting branded sportswear, influencers promise a simplified way of optimizing one’s appearance as the key to happiness. Direct and surreptitious advertising of industry-specific products constitutes the communicative focus. At the same time, minors identify with the roles and ideals demonstrated by influencers and their needs are satisfied on several different levels. This creates a relationship of dependency between influencers and their followers.ConclusionsThe dynamics in the field of health communication by influencers on social networks will become increasingly important in the coming years. This is largely due to the targeted demand on the part of (mainly) underage users and the high attractiveness of influencer marketing on the part of companies. Influencers suggest a dependence on happiness, well-being, health and beauty. Only those who create a body shaped through control and discipline are healthy and beautiful - and can be happy. The indirectly communicated conclusions, which can be considered as extremely critical, illustrate the need for action in order to protect and positively accompany young people in their psychological and physical development. The shift of authority figures within Generation Z, as well as identified communication techniques, can be considered and may be harnessed by targeted, group-oriented campaign designs.

(Un)Healthy Behavior? The Relationship between Media Literacy, Nutritional Behavior, and Self-Representation on Instagram

The article examines the relationship between media (and health literacy), self-representation, and nutritional behavior of girls who receive nutrition-related content on Instagram. Analyzing this relationship is important because social networks like Instagram can be used as platforms to promote one’s nutritional behavior as expression of personality and to interact with others. Countless meal images are posted, and reach a large number of users. With its visual characteristics, Instagram seems predestined for nutrition-related self-representation. Media literacy, one way of raising young people’s awareness of the risks of media use, encompasses the skills knowledge, evaluation, and action. If media literacy is transferred to the field of health communication, intersections become apparent. Media literacy is understood as a necessary ability to distinguish credible health information from non-credible health information. Both media and health literacy include the skills knowledge, evaluation, and action. Based on 15 qualitative interviews with girls in the age of 13 to 19, results show the relevance of media and health literacy for nutritional behavior. The girls own background information to classify and evaluate received content. They know that content on Instagram is staged and they reflect about negative effects of staged images. However, these images inspire them for their self-representation and nutritional behavior. They adapt what they see into their own eating habits, adopt trends, and thus act against their knowledge of negative consequences to reach the socially expected body image.

Express rather than impress: Benefits of the rEACH summer school for early-career researchers in the field of health communication

Express rather than impress: Benefits of the rEACH summer school for early-career researchers in the field of health communication

Developing the International Association for Communication in Healthcare (EACH) to address current challenges of health communication

In 2017, EACH celebrated its change of name from European Association for Communication in Healthcare to EACH: International Association for Communication in Healthcare. This paper aims to present the developments and achievements of EACH over the past five years with a focus on its mission in promoting and advancing the field of communication in healthcare. Specifically, the paper focuses on how EACH, first, promotes research in the field of health communication, second, provides support, resources and sharing for healthcare communication teachers and, third, aims at influencing policy through dissemination of evidence. This paper also explores future challenges and directions for EACH to further strengthen its impact by designing activities in knowledge transfer and knowledge dissemination, engaging with patients and truly benefitting from their expertise, fostering active participation and networking among its members, targeting interventions to the needs of different countries around the world and refining knowledge-sharing and cooperation both within the membership of EACH and outside the association to as wide an audience as possible. Scholars, educators and practitioners active in the field of healthcare communication are invited to comment on this paper and to actively contribute towards the goals of EACH.

'He should feel your pain': Patient insights on patient-provider communication in Rwanda.

BackgroundPatient–provider communication is an interpersonal interaction between a patient and a health care provider.ObjectiveThis study explored patients’ communication preferences and perceptions on what factors influence the patient–provider communication in primary health care settings in Rwanda.MethodsIn-depth semi-structured interviews with 15 individuals including 8 with limited literacy. A thematic inductive analysis was used.ResultsPatients valued communication with providers and expressed the need for interacting with caring, empathic providers who can share all the information they want and involve them in their own care. Health literacy and power issues were factors that may influence patient–provider communication. Patients with limited literacy appeared to rely highly on health care providers for making decisions about and managing their health care.ConclusionThe expressed preferences, including those of patients with limited literacy, aligned well with the patient-centred care model. There were indications of a power imbalance weighing on the provider’s side. Although patients with limited literacy were reliant on providers for decision-making, they were ready to be more involved in the care, suggesting a potential for improved patient involvement even for patients with paternalistic care preferences. These patients’ insights can impact policies and curricula to optimise clinical practice. Generated knowledge will contribute to the indispensable yet underdeveloped field of health communication in sub-Saharan Africa.Practice implicationsFindings call for more inclusion of patient perspectives in the patient–provider encounter. This could require more training of professionals and research on the topic, both in Rwanda and in other regions.

Communication Regulatory Science: Mapping a New Field

ABSTRACTCommunication regulatory science is an emerging field that uses validated techniques, tools, and models to inform regulatory actions that promote optimal communication outcomes and benefit the public. In the opening article to this special issue on communication and tobacco regulatory science, we 1) describe Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation of tobacco products in the US; 2) introduce communication regulatory science and provide examples in the tobacco regulatory science realm; and 3) describe the special issue process and final set of articles. Communication research on tobacco regulatory science is a burgeoning area of inquiry, and this work advances communication science, informs and potentially guides the FDA, and may help to withstand legal challenges brought by the tobacco industry. This research has the potential to have a major impact on the tobacco epidemic and population health by helping implement the most effective communications to prevent tobacco initiation and increase cessation. This special issue provides an example of 10 studies that exemplify tobacco regulatory science and demonstrate how the health communication field can affect regulation and benefit public health.

Doctor–patient relationships amid changes in contemporary society: a view from the health communication field

ABSTRACTSynopsis: In this article, we propose to understand the doctor–patient relationship (DPR) using a health communications perspective, as it is located in the sociohistorical framework of modernising processes. The paper analyses the academic literature about the doctor-patient relationship (DPR) during the period of 1980–2015, gathered from key words in digital collections and indexed magazines available in three electronic databases (SISBI, SciELO and DIALNET). Eighty-four articles were selected from the initial search. The results suggest three axes of thematisation of the DPR over the period analysed: patient satisfaction, models of relationship between professionals and patients, and eHealth. The latter, eHealth, demonstrates the current transformation of social and communication order and is the main axis of reflection and investigation.

Communicating Earthquake Preparedness: The Influence of Induced Mood, Perceived Risk, and Gain or Loss Frames on Homeowners' Attitudes Toward General Precautionary Measures for Earthquakes.

Despite global efforts to reduce seismic risk, actual preparedness levels remain universally low. Although earthquake-resistant building design is the most efficient way to decrease potential losses, its application is not a legal requirement across all earthquake-prone countries and even if, often not strictly enforced. Risk communication encouraging homeowners to take precautionary measures is therefore an important means to enhance a country's earthquake resilience. Our study illustrates that specific interactions of mood, perceived risk, and frame type significantly affect homeowners' attitudes toward general precautionary measures for earthquakes. The interdependencies of the variables mood, risk information, and frame type were tested in an experimental 2 × 2 × 2 design (N = 156). Only in combination and not on their own, these variables effectively influence attitudes toward general precautionary measures for earthquakes. The control variables gender, "trait anxiety" index, and alteration of perceived risk adjust the effect. Overall, the group with the strongest attitudes toward general precautionary actions for earthquakes are homeowners with induced negative mood who process high-risk information and gain-framed messages. However, the conditions comprising induced negative mood, low-risk information and loss-frame and induced positive mood, low-risk information and gain-framed messages both also significantly influence homeowners' attitudes toward general precautionary measures for earthquakes. These results mostly confirm previous findings in the field of health communication. For practitioners, our study emphasizes that carefully compiled communication measures are a powerful means to encourage precautionary attitudes among homeowners, especially for those with an elevated perceived risk.

A narrative framework for forgiveness at the end of life: suggestions for future research in health communication

ABSTRACTForgiveness is a topic that is relevant and prominent in end of life conversations. However, while the process of forgiveness has become increasingly studied in health contexts by communication scholars, through various methodologies and across multiple contexts, research on forgiveness in the end of life context, particularly in the field of health communication, is lacking. Moreover, there is a need for qualitative inquiry, and I argue that as this research gap is addressed, the projects of the medical humanities and hospice can—and should—inform how health communication scholars situate and understand forgiveness at the end of life. This essay proposes an interpretive narrative approach, which grounds forgiveness within the narratives of the living and the dying, of persons and not patients.

A Method Proposal for Determining Health Communication Campaigns’ Messages

This research is focused on the question of deciding what to say in a (health) communication campaign. The goal is to search for ways of selecting/tailoring effective campaign messages which are persuasive for the targeted audiences. Accordingly, by considering Social Judgement Theory in the foundation of Integrated Behavior Model; two variables, belief strength and involvement are proposed with a method to predict the persuasiveness of campaign messages. When the people have strong beliefs and high involvements, a message that does not match with the most important behavioral determinant should be used in the campaign. However, when the people have weak beliefs, a message matching with the most important behavioral determinant should be used without considering the involvement level. These hypotheses are tested in the field of health communication on (cervical cancer) HPV vaccine acceptance and all accepted. CATI is used to collect data on surveys. The study sample, which is derived through a method close to probability sampling, is consisted of mothers who live in Istanbul/Turkey and have at least one 11-26-year-old daughter(N=145). Multiple linear regressions, decision trees (CHAID) and ANOVA are used for the analysis.

Outbreak or Epidemic? How Obama's Language Choice Transformed the Ebola Outbreak Into an Epidemic.

Our aim was to examine in what terms leading newspapers' online sites described the current Ebola crisis. We employed a quantitative content analysis of terms attributed to Ebola. We found and analyzed 582 articles published between March 23 and September 30, 2014, on the online websites of 3 newspapers: The New York Times, Daily Mail, and Ynet. Our theoretical framework drew from the fields of health communication and emerging infectious disease communication, including such concepts as framing media literacy, risk signatures, and mental models. We found that outbreak and epidemic were used interchangeably in the articles. From September 16, 2014, onward, epidemic predominated, corresponding to when President Barack Obama explicitly referred to Ebola as an epidemic. Prior to Obama's speech, 86.8% of the articles (323) used the term outbreak and only 8.6% (32) used the term epidemic. Subsequently, both terms were used almost the same amount: 53.8% of the articles (113) used the term outbreak and 53.3% (112) used the term epidemic. Effective communication is crucial during public health emergencies such as Ebola, because language framing affects the decision-making process of social judgments and actions. The choice of one term (outbreak) over another (epidemic) can create different conceptualizations of the disease, thereby influencing the risk signature. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:669-673).

The Effect of Message Framing on African American Women’s Intention to Participate in Health-Related Research

This study examined the effect of message framing on African American women’s intention to participate in health-related research and actual registration in ResearchMatch (RM), a disease-neutral, national volunteer research registry. A community-engaged approach was used involving collaboration between an academic medical center and a volunteer service organization formed by professional women of color. A self-administered survey that contained an embedded message framing manipulation was distributed to more than 2,000 African American women attending the 2012 national assembly of The Links, Incorporated. A total of 391 surveys were completed (381 after exclusion: 187 containing the gain-framed message and 194 containing the loss-framed message). The majority (57%) of women expressed favorable intentions to participate in health-related research, and 21% subsequently enrolled in RM. The effect of message framing on intention was moderated by self-efficacy. There was no effect of message framing on RM registration; however, those with high self-efficacy were more than 2 times as likely as those with low self-efficacy to register as a potential study volunteer in RM (odds ratio = 2.62, 95% confidence interval [1.29, 5.33]). This investigation makes theoretical and practical contributions to the field of health communication and informs future strategies to meaningfully and effectively include women and minorities in health-related research.

Identification With Characters, Elaboration, and Counterarguing in Entertainment-Education Interventions Through Audiovisual Fiction

The aim of this article is to further knowledge of the explanatory processes of narrative persuasion in the field of health communication, using data obtained in a research study of entertainment-education based on audiovisual fiction. Participating in the study were 208 young persons between the ages of 14 and 20, randomly distributed to three different groups. Each of the groups was exposed to a different episode of the Colombian television series Revelados, desde todas las posiciones. The results showed that greater identification with the main character of the episode transmitting a prevention message was associated with greater cognitive elaboration, which in turn led to more favorable attitudes toward the topics addressed. However, counterarguing was not observed to play a significant mediating role. The findings of this study allow us to conclude that getting people to think and reflect can help persuade them, which suggests that narrative persuasion models and dual models of rhetorical persuasion can be compatible in certain contexts, such as when messages are designed in such a way that characters make explicit arguments that endorse a prosocial message through dialogues.