The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #73398

Edward Maibach, PhD, MPH, Porter Novelli, 1909 K Street, NW, Washington, DC 20006, 202-973-5800, emaibach@porternovelli.com

Health communication represents an area of theory, research, and practice focusing on the relationships between communication and health, health attitudes and beliefs, and health behavior. Communication rapidly is becoming recognized as a significant factor in health care and promotion and a vital part of national public health efforts. At the same time, health communication, as an interdisciplinary effort, intersects with the fields of public health education, health promotion, and social marketing. All four disciplines play roles in bringing about changes in behavior, lifestyle, and social determinants of health required to improve the public’s health and quality of life. This panel will explore these intersecting disciplines, with a focus on clarifying the intellectual, theoretical, practical and methodological arenas bounded by each. This session will bring together leading scholars and practitioners with a primary identification with one of the disciplines, but who also have bridges to one or more of the other disciplines. Each participant will prepare a brief presentation addressing his or her views of health communication and its relationship to his/her own discipline. The panelists will take a Venn diagram approach in order to emphasize the disciplines’ areas of uniqueness and overlap. The moderator then will pose a series of questions to the panelists to facilitate interaction regarding similarities and differences in how their discipline views public health problems and solutions, major approaches and focal points, and complementary and unique contributions of the four fields in improving the public’s health.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this session, participants will be able to identify and explain:
• the roles of health communication in health promotion and disease prevention efforts
• areas of overlap and commonality of approaches among health communication, public health education, health promotion, and social marketing
• complementary contributions of each of the four fields

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.