3 - Health Communication

• What is the goal of health communication?

  Use communication strategically to improve health
• What does health communication encompass?

  Study and use of communication strategies
• How does health communication contribute to disease prevention?

  It informs and influences health decisions
• In what contexts is health communication relevant?

  Health professional-patient relations
• What can effective health communication help individuals do?

  Raise awareness of health risks and solutions
• How can health communication influence the community?

  Advocate for policies and programs
• What are the contributions of health communication to health promotion and disease prevention?

  • Improvement of interpersonal interactions
  • Enhanced collaborative relationships
  • Dissemination of health messages through campaigns
  • Better understanding of community needs
• What are the contexts in which communication occurs?

  School, home, and work
• What do successful health promotion efforts rely on?

  Multidimensional interventions to reach audiences
• What is an audience-centered perspective in health communication?

  Reflects audiences’ preferred formats and channels
• Why are interventions that account for cultural practices successful?

  They meet specific population needs
• How are advances in health informatics changing health communication?

  Changing delivery of health information and services
• What is effective interpersonal communication (IPC) important for?

  Improving patient satisfaction and health outcomes
• What leads to greater patient satisfaction?

  Understanding illness and treatment by patients
• What factors can affect provider-patient communication?

  Lack of privacy and time constraints
• What does effective communication enable patients to do?

  Disclose critical information about health
• What are the outcomes of effective IPC?

  Better health outcomes and treatment compliance
• What are the characteristics of effective IPC?

  • Encourages two-way dialogue
  • Establishes a partnership between patient and provider
  • Personalized content based on patient understanding
  • Verifies patient recall of essential information
• What are the three elements of IPC?

  Caring, diagnostic communication, counseling
• What does the caring element of IPC focus on?

  Establishing rapport and trust
• What does the diagnostic communication element of IPC involve?

  Exchanging information for diagnosis and treatment
• What does the counseling element of IPC ensure?

  Patients understand health problems and treatments
• How does effective IPC impact patient-provider relationships?

  It creates positive rapport and trust
• What is the relationship between communication behaviors and health outcomes?

  Process behaviors affect short and long-term results
• What are the expected outcomes for patients from effective IPC?

  Improved recall, satisfaction, and compliance
• What are the expected outcomes for providers from effective IPC?

  Increased satisfaction and competence
• How does effective IPC benefit the community?

  Reduces societal costs and improves productivity
• What is the role of effective IPC in reducing morbidity and mortality?

  Improves health outcomes and quality of life