Transformational Health Communication

Health communication is key to promoting good population and individual health outcomes. As the field has developed, there is a growing need for a critical appraisal of the ideologies and theories underpinning health communication in order to ensure effective practice. This book clearly situates health communication within its social context. It provides a critical overview of three key disciplinary areas – education, psychology and communication. Drawing on international examples throughout, the book challenges the underlying assumptions that drive the design and delivery of health promotion interventions. The authors argue that health communication is inherently political and pay close attention to issues of power, ethics and inequality throughout the text. This book will be valuable for those students at all levels who require a critical perspective, as well as practitioners in health communication and health promotion. With reference to detailed examples and annotated suggestions for further reading, the book is an accessible resource for analysing contemporary health communication.

Transformation and Your New EHR offers a robust communication and change leadership approach to support electronic health record (EHR) implementations and transformation journeys. This book highlights the approach and philosophy of communication, change leadership, and systems and process design, giving readers a practical view into the successes and failures that can be experienced throughout the evolution of an EHR implementation.

A proven prescription for effective communication that will empower health professionals to deliver the highest quality care―from the Academy of Communication in Healthcare Research shows that nothing impacts patient experiences more than the quality of communication. While beneficial, the latest in cutting-edge technology and techniques aren’t enough to ensure the best possible care for patients. The key to better healthcare outcomes is communication. Over the past four decades, the Academy of Communication in Healthcare has worked tirelessly with health systems, teaching communication skills that put relationships—between patients and providers, as well as among providers—at the center of care. Now, for the first time, ACH’s proven and effective methodology is detailed in this invaluable step-by-step guide. You’ll learn communication skills that will enable you to: * Provide more accurate diagnoses and effective treatments—and improve patient outcomes * Boost patient adherence and lower hospital readmission rates * Make fewer errors and reduce malpractice risks * Increase patient satisfaction and build teamwork among providers * Further develop your communication skill set—and help others do the same In this practical—and potentially life-saving—volume, you’ll discover special sections on teamwork, coaching, shared decision-making, feedback, conflict engagement, diversity, and communicating through hierarchy. The book also provides institutional initiatives to help you implement change in your organization and outlines a field-tested blueprint for healthier communication across the entire industry. To create effective communication and meaningful connections in healthcare, trust ACH. Communication is literally its middle name.

This book presents an evaluation framework for assessing the impact of the new media on the health care system by juxtaposing characteristics of emerging information and communication technologies (interactive, seamlessly connected, and user-driven) and health care objectives (to increase access, improve quality, and manage costs). Each chapter provides a unique set of tools and perspectives on how to harness these new media to improve individual health and the health care delivery system. This innovative volume has also stimulated the creation of a "Forum on Health and the New Media" on the World Wide Web (http://Health.Dartmouth.edu/NewMedia/). The forum offers highlights of the book as well as links to the authors and related web sites. The volume is divided into six sections as follows: *The "Overview" juxtaposes characteristics of the new media (interactive, connected, and user-driven) with the three criteria for health care improvement: increased access, improved quality, and cost management. It offers a New Media and Health Care matrix of criteria for building and evaluating emerging health care systems. *The "Delivery" -- how new media can enhance the delivery of health care -- includes chapters on: managed care, demand management and self-care, telemedicine for rural residents, and how the Internet can be used to facilitate collaboration among health researchers and providers. *Health Information -- the life blood of health care -- addresses the potential for: extending the traditional flow of health information (from researchers to providers) to reach patients who want to share in decisions about their care; and the federal government's role in providing health information to the public. *Health Education discusses: integrating multimedia health programming for public schools; using networked multimedia and simulation technologies and new learning theories that promise to transform public health education; and educating health providers and patients through interactive media and drama. *Potholes Along the Highway provides a sobering balance to otherwise rather optimistic assumptions that a national information infrastructure will be forthcoming. *The New Media: Annotated Glossary provides computing and networking technology tools for readers who are not fluent in cyberlanguage.

This book advances new understandings of how technologies have been harnessed to improve the health of populations; whether the technologies really empower those who use information by providing them with a choice of information; how they shape health policy discourses; how the health information relates to traditional belief systems and local philosophies; the implications for health communicators; how certain forms of silence are produced when media articulates and problematizes only a few health issues and sidelines others; and much more. The book brings together current research and discussions on the three areas of policy, practices and theoretical perspectives related to health communication approaches in developing countries, presenting well-researched and documented essays that will prove helpful for academic and scholarly inquiry in this area.

Communication skills are essential to effective health promotion and public health practice. This textbook bridges the gap between health communication theory and health promotion and public health practice. It provides students and practitioners with the knowledge and skills they need to design, plan, implement and evaluate programmes and campaigns. Now in its second edition, topics covered in the book include: - Mass media - Diverse audiences - Evaluation - Media analysis - Campaign monitoring Case studies and interactive activities in each chapter encourage critical thinking and creative campaign design practice. It will be a valuable resource for students, lecturers and practitioners working across health promotion, public health, communication, media, healthcare and nursing fields. Nova Corcoran works as a Senior Lecturer in public health and health promotion at the University of Glamorgan.

This compact resource presents current data on health literacy as it affects child health outcomes, with a sharp focus on improving communication between healthcare providers and pediatric patients and their families. A frequently overlooked social determinant of health in children, health literacy is shown as a critical skill for patients and families and a key aspect of patient engagement. The authors’ evidence-based survey pinpoints common problems in healthcare providers’ verbal and written communication with pediatric patients, their parents, and/or caregivers. Readers will learn about practical health literacy strategies for addressing and preventing miscommunication at the individual and systems levels. These improvements are linked to immediate results (e.g., greater compliance, fewer medication errors) as well as improved long-term child health outcomes, including reduced health disparities and enhanced quality of life into adulthood. This transformative guide: Defines optimum health communication as necessary for working with all patients Identifies common barriers to clear health communication Traces the relationship between health literacy and child health outcomes, from the prenatal period and into young adulthood Offers guidelines for creating effective patient education materials and a safe, health literacy oriented patient-centered environment Integrates health literacy into health systems’ quality improvement plans Health Literacy and Child Health Outcomes informs students in MPH programs as well as public health scientists and scholars, and can also serve as an introductory text for students in public health ethics or a general applied ethics course. Public health professionals in diverse contexts such as local health departments and nonprofit organizations will appreciate its robust approach to ethical practice, professional development, and systems improvement. This will be a helpful guide for introducing health communication topics in medical education and allied health. Lastly, clinicians taking care of pediatric patients will find concise information and practical advice to apply in the clinical setting.