3 credit hours
This course will unpack the growing body of health communication research, theory, and practice, examining the powerful influences of communication on the delivery of care and the promotion of health. Through an applied approach to the study of health communication, students will ultimately learn how to use strategic health communication to enhance health outcomes and reduce health disparities, locally and globally. The course will examine multiple levels of communication (intrapersonal, interpersonal, group, organizational, and societal communication), key human and mediated channels of communication, as well as new digital information technologies. We will examine how strategically designed and culturally sensitive communication programs, practices, and policies can be sued to enhance health outcomes. Moreover, health communication will be analyzed to better understand the barriers and obstacles to successful health communication interventions through interpersonal relationships, news and social medias, and larger societal discourses. Class members will develop the ability to evaluate the effectiveness of health communication programs, design appropriate health communication interventions, and use communication effectively to improve health outcomes for themselves and others.