Oral

The 2008 APHA Conference marks the 10th anniversary of the founding of PHEHP’s Health Communication Working Group. During the 10 years, health communication professionals have made substantial contributions to the field including: leading the development and testing of theory in public health communication and behavior change; contributing to our knowledge about the role of health communication and education in changing behavior; influencing policy (e.g., through the Healthy People Communication Objectives); affecting the development of institutional and agency structures to promote health communication research and practice (e.g., at NCI and CDC); expanding and improving educational programs and curricula in health communication; and changing health promotion practice and improving the public’s health (e.g., through the VERB physical activity campaign). This panel will bring together experts in public health communication and PHEHP award winners to highlight major accomplishments in the last ten years and to discuss where the field may go in the next 10 years. Topics that will be covered include: public health communication theory development, research and evaluation, practice, policy, and graduate education.

Session Objectives: 1. Identify major accomplishments in health communication theory, research and evaluation, policy, practice, and education in the last 10 years 2. Describe health communication opportunities and challenges for the future

CE Credits: CME, Health Education (CHES), Nursing