Health Communication最新文献

Palliative care family meetings (PCFMs) can be conceivably endorsed as helpful means for bettering end of life (EOL) communication with terminally ill patients and their families. Relevant scholarship in China remains emerging and youthful, with many avenues left to explore. Few studies have delineated the structure and specified the strategies for conducting PCFMs in the Chinese context. To address this gap, this study gathered data from audio-recorded family meetings held in palliative care wards in China. Within the theoretical framework of genre theory in functional linguistics (FL) that defined genres as staged, goal-oriented social processes, utilizing thematic analysis and discourse analysis, the twofold generic structure of PCFMs was delineated, consisting of four genre stagings in the upper stratum and fourteen elemental genres in the lower stratum, with the identified attributes of elemental genres, their sequence and possibility of iteration. Doctors' discursive strategies in terms of semantics and lexicogrammar were specified as they serve to achieve communicative goals regarding knowledge, identity, and emotion. It is hoped that the results will improve the context for growing palliative care practices and positive clinical outcomes in China and provide insights into the structurization and discursiveness of practices in EOL settings.

California remains among a handful of U.S. states with no clause for a personal belief exemption for required vaccines due to passage of SB277. As vaccines represent an important tool in the public health arsenal against SARS-CoV-2 and may yet be required by schools and employers, other states may consider enacting laws similar to SB277 to address COVID-19 and future outbreaks of infectious diseases. In this case study of California's SB277 bill, we examine the sentiment, values, and misinformation shared on Twitter regarding this bill in the days leading up to, during, and after its successful enactment into law in 2015 using a sample of geocoded tweets (N = 1,000). Results of our content analysis of tweet sentiments before and after the law was signed offer evidence for significant differences in vaccine misinformation [χ²(1, N = 1,000) = 4.01, p = .045, Φ = .06], and individual values related to power [χ²(1, N = 1,000) = 71.57, p < .001, Φ = -.27] and achievement [χ²(1, N = 1,000) = 4.39, p = .036, Φ = .07]. Findings suggest that although most tweets did not contain misinformation, few provided scientific evidence to back claims. Implication for theory, research, and health policy and practice are discussed.

McLaughlin, Gotlieb, and Mills introduced the concept of problematic news consumption (PNC) in their 2023 study, finding that those classified as having severely problematic news consumption (16.5% of the sample) exhibited significantly greater levels of mental and physical ill-being. These results were the product of a single cross-sectional survey, however. Using a two-wave longitudinal survey, we sought to replicate their findings. In the current study, we found support for the factor structure of the PNC scale and the 4-profile solution, although the severely problematic news consumption profile represented a substantially smaller portion of the sample (7.5%) than in the initial study. Additionally, we found support for greater levels of mental and physical ill-being among those in the severely problematic news consumption profile in the Wave 1 cross-sectional model. However, while we found greater levels of mental ill-being among these participants in the autoregressive model, we did not find greater levels of physical ill-being.

Over a decade ago, in the 100th issue of Health Communication (Volume 25, issues 6-7); 2010), 30 "impact" articles addressed how our collective research findings had been translated to make a positive difference for persons across diverse communities. It is laudable to develop projects helping others to enhance their awareness about healthy living, refine practical communication skills to promote behavioral change, and rely on findings to enact important practices and policies giving priority to how well and long we live in contemporary society. As a preview, however, an article entitled "Why is it so difficult to talk about impact?" raised a series of inherent challenges faced whenever we conduct our research to advance basic knowledge by pursuing meaningful translation opportunities. These efforts are constrained in various ways: A lack of motivation, ability, and training to envision and implement protocols beneficial for the public good; the need to procure adequate resources (e.g., time and money) for sustaining longitudinal investigations; dealing with misconceptions that "applied" communication research has less value than "basic" studies; and creating and managing cross-disciplinary collaborations necessary to achieve project goals. When designing interventions to change others' lives in meaningful ways, attention must also be given to balancing community outreach while avoiding unnecessary self-promotion and imposition of social scientific priorities.

Health communication research applies communication science to develop generalizable knowledge capable of improving the health and well-being of individuals and communities. But to what extent does the knowledge generated by the health communication field actually achieve public health impact? To answer this question, we discuss the application of health communication science and research within a tobacco regulatory science framework. We describe three areas in which health communication research funded by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) contributed to 1) youth tobacco prevention campaigns, 2) cigarette health warnings, and 3) regulation of labeling, advertising, and marketing claims. These examples demonstrate how communication regulatory science achieves public health impact in the real world by informing national policies, regulatory actions, and public health practice.

Vaccines (a medical product) and vaccination recommendations (expert advice on who should receive, when, and how often) have grown in importance and prominence in the past 15 years, including because of a recent COVID-19 pandemic. This essay highlights contributions from vaccine and vaccination-related health communication research since 2010. This research has had significant impacts - that is, visible and discernible positive effects - on the ways health communication is undertaken broadly (e.g. at the campaign level) and at the health care provider-patient level (e.g. conversations with parents and patients regarding vaccine benefits, risks, and safety). As this essay illustrates, health communication research has resulted in greater use of formative research to guide vaccination campaign and education efforts, better identification and understanding of the factors behind vaccination delay and declination, and greater recognition that communication efforts can fail to achieve desired outcomes or generate unintended consequences. Health communication research has also documented the powerful influence of healthcare provider communication on parent and patient understanding and compliance with immunization recommendations. Importantly, this research has also shown the characteristics of provider-patient communication matter much. Healthcare providers must have or establish a high degree of trust, be well-versed in vaccine efficacy and safety, and be adept at using their personal experiences, information tailoring/personalization, and evidence-based communication strategies to increase the likelihood of success.

Defining Moments is a podcast that extends the reach of articles published in Health Communication into public acoustic realms. In this essay, we locate Defining Moments in the broader realm of podcasting and highlight its inception, production, distribution, and impact through available data analytics. We approach podcasting as a relational experience in which meaning-making extends beyond any audio text to include reactions, interactions, and actions. Across three seasons and thirty-five episodes, the podcast has created space for scholars to translate research for general audiences and reflect on defining moments of their personal and professional lives, often situated in adverse experiences or unjust social contexts. Common to all episodes are stories of retrospective sensemaking in the service of prospective change.

In this essay, we review how health communication scholarship has been translated into various communication skills trainings (CSTs), we present four case studies of how health communication research informed the development and implementation of specific CSTs, and we reflect on how we can productively define "impact" in looking back as well as looking forward within this line of research.