We are what we eat. That old expression seems particularly poignant every time we have our blood drawn for a routine physical to check our cholesterol levels. And, it's not just what we eat that affects our health. Whole ranges of behaviors ultimately make a difference in how we feel and how we maintain our health. Lifestyle choices have enormous impact on our health and well being. But, how do we communicate the language of good health so that it is uniformly received-and accepted-by people from different cultures and backgrounds? Take, for example, the case of a 66 year old Latina. She has been told by her doctor that she should have a mammogram. But her sense of fatalism tells her that it is better not to know if anything is wrong. To know that something is wrong will cause her distress and this may well lead to even more health problems. Before she leaves her doctor's office she has decided not to have a mammogram-that is until her doctor points out that having a mammogram is a way to take care of herself so that she can continue to take care of her family. In this way, the decision to have a mammogram feels like a positive step. Public health communicators and health professionals face dilemmas like this every day. Speaking of Health looks at the challenges of delivering important messages to different audiences. Using case studies in the areas of diabetes, mammography, and mass communication campaigns, it examines the ways in which messages must be adapted to the unique informational needs of their audiences if they are to have any real impact. Speaking of Health looks at basic theories of communication and behavior change and focuses on where they apply and where they don't. By suggesting creative strategies and guidelines for speaking to diverse audiences now and in the future, the Institute of Medicine seeks to take health communication into the 21st century. In an age where we are inundated by multiple messages every day, this book will be a critical tool for all who are interested in communicating with diverse communities about health issues.

The Institute of Medicine's Roundtable on Population Health Improvement brings together individuals and organizations that represent different sectors in a dialogue about what is needed to improve population health. On September 22, 2014, the roundtable held a workshop to discuss some of the science of health communication, audiences, and messaging, and to explore what it will take to generate widespread awareness, acceptance, and action to improve health, including through the entertainment media, the news media, and social media. This report summarizes the presentations and discussion of the workshop.

"This text illustrates the importance of effective communication in disease prevention and health promotion by building theory-based messages while being responsive to diverse audience needs. This book clearly explains core health communication principles and processes for designing effective messages for health communication interventions and campaigns while integrating perspectives from multiple areas including psychology, public health, and social marketing. Key features: &• theory-based message design links theory and practice by explaining how psychosocial theories of behaviour change can be used to design effective health communication messages &• audience-centered message design provides clarity on how diverse audiences' cultures, beliefs, barriers, and needs can be effectively addressed &• suggested further readings guide students through additional theory and research &• end-of-chapter discussion questions encourage critical thinking about the implication of each chapter on future theory, research, and practice relevant to health communication message design and evaluation "--Pubisher.

Strategic communication is becoming more relevant in communication sciences, though it needs to deepen its reflective practices, especially considering its potential in a VUCA world — volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. The capillary, holistic and result-oriented nature that portrays this scientific field has led to the imperative of expanding knowledge about the different approaches, methodologies and impacts in all kinds of organisations when strategic communication is applied. Therefore Strategic Communication in Context: Theoretical Debates and Applied Research assembles several studies and essays by renowned authors who explore the topic from different angles, thus testing the elasticity of the concept. Moreover, this group of authors represents various schools of thought and geographies, making this book particularly rich and cross-disciplinary.

How do organizations such as universities, television and radio networks, advertising agencies, voluntary groups, community and government agencies collaborate to make a successful campaign? How do organizational dynamics or structures influence campaign outcomes? This book explores these questions by bringing together campaign experts and leading management scientists to investigate the organizational dimensions of some of the most high-profile health campaigns in the United States.

Traditional and social media are used extensively in terms of public health today. Studies show that social media works much better than other follow-up systems, leading it to become a modern and somewhat new tool for disease coverage and information discovery. The current state of the representation of health and medicine in the media is an important factor to analyze in the field of health communication, especially amidst the onset of a global pandemic. The ways in which the media discusses health, the campaigns that are used, and the ethics around this role of media and journalism are defining factors in the spread of information regarding health. The Handbook of Research on Representing Health and Medicine in Modern Media is a crucial reference that discusses health communication within two contexts: in terms of the media and journalists presenting critical health information and in terms of media literacy and information retrieval methods of media consumers through modern digital channels. The main purpose of these chapters is the development of critical thinking about health presentations and health communication issues in the media by presenting a discussion of the issues that will contribute to this vital view of health, medicine, and diseases in the media. The primary topics highlighted in this book are infectious diseases in the media, campaigning, media ethics, digital platforms such as television and social media in health communication, and the media’s impact on individuals and society. This book is ideal for journalists, reporters, researchers, practitioners, public health officials, social media analysts, researchers, academicians, and students looking for information on how health and medicine are presented in the media, the channels used for information delivery, and the impact of the media on health and medicine.

This book is a must have for anyone designing or developing a campaign in health promotion or public health. It is the only textbook which takes the reader right through the planning, implementation and evaluation of a health communication campaign.