Health communication research in Europe: an emerging field

Essential Skills for Health Communication, Barriers, Facilitators and the Need for Training: Perceptions of Healthcare Professionals from Seven European Countries

Many healthcare professionals are unaware of the necessary skills and barriers hindering interpersonal health communication. This study aimed to evaluate the healthcare professional's perception regarding health communication training's necessity, barriers, facilitators and critical skills in health communication. Data from a cross-sectional online survey in the framework of the H-Com project were utilized. The study included 691 healthcare professionals (physicians, nurses, students and allied health professionals) from seven European countries. Only 57% of participants had participated in health communication training, while 88.1% of them indicated a willingness to be trained in health communication. Nurses were more likely (OR = 1.84; 95% CI 1.16, 2.91) to have received such training, compared to physicians. Most examined communication skills, barriers and facilitators of effective communication, and perceived outcomes of successful communication were considered crucial for most participants, although physicians overall seemed to be less concerned. Most agreed perceived outcomes were improved professional-patient relations, patient and professional satisfaction, physical and psychological health amelioration and patients' trust. Nurses evaluated the importance of these communication skills and communication barriers, facilitators and outcomes higher than physicians. Physicians may underestimate the importance of communication skills more than nurses. Health communication should become an integral part of training for all health professionals.

Identifying the field of health communication

This empirical investigation addresses four paradigmatically framed research questions to illuminate the epistemological status of the field of health communication, systematically addressing the limitations of existing disciplinary introspections. A content analysis of published health communication research indicated that the millennium marked a new stage of health communication research with a visible shift onto macro-level communication of health information among nonhealth professionals. The analysis also revealed the emergence of a paradigm around this particular topic area, with its contributing scholars predominantly sharing postpositivistic thought traditions and cross-sectional survey-analytic methodologies. More interdisciplinary collaborations and meta-theoretical assessments are needed to facilitate a continued growth of this evolving paradigm, which may advance health communication scholars in their search for a disciplinary identity.

Doenças midiaticamente negligenciadas: uma aproximação teórica

Atualmente, a visibilidade midiática se apresenta como condição central para conhecimento público de mazelas sociais. Apesar dos espaços cada vez mais amplos dedicados à saúde nos jornais diários, os critérios para noticiabilidade obedecem à lógica jornalística e de mercado. Assim, entende-se que, enquanto a intensa cobertura tenderia a exaltar determinados problemas, a omissão de outros poderia contribuir para seu subdimensionamento político. Este artigo visa problematizar para desenvolver bases teóricas úteis ao estudo das ‘doenças midiaticamente negligenciadas’, constituídas pelas demandas em saúde sobre as quais pouco se publica, usualmente relacionadas às condições de pobreza e iniquidade. Propõe-se, para tanto: uma problematização das lógicas midiáticas; uma reflexão acerca das definições de demandas e necessidades de saúde; análise da questão da (in)visibilidade midiática, e, finalmente, identificam-se as bases conceituais que situam as ‘doenças midiaticamente negligenciadas’ como categoria derivada de tais reflexões.

Emerging issues and future directions of the field of health communication

The interdisciplinary intersections between communication science and health-related fields are pervasive, with numerous differences in regard to epistemology, career planning, funding perspectives, educational goals, and cultural orientations. This article identifies and elaborates on these challenges with illustrative examples. Furthermore, concrete suggestions for future scholarship are recommended to facilitate compatible, coherent, and interdisciplinary health communication inquiry. The authors hope that this article helps current and future generations of health communication scholars to make more informed decisions when facing some of the challenges discussed in this article so that they will be able to seize the interdisciplinary and international potential of this unique and important field of study.

Reporting health communication activities for the prevention and control of communicable diseases in Europe

Health communication is part of the public health response to the significant continuing threat of communicable diseases in Europe. However, the nature and extent of health communication activities in the context of Europe aimed at the prevention and control of communicable diseases is currently unknown. This severely restricts capacity development as neither strengths nor gaps in knowledge and practice are evident and therefore cannot be addressed. This article reports on the initial phase of a research project aimed at supporting the optimal use and development of health communication activities in the European Union and the European Economic Area. The study used a mixed-methods design-an e-survey and telephone interviews-with participants from 30 countries to identify activities, followed by an opportunistic group interview with 15 key stakeholders to identify perceived needs of public health bodies in relation to identified gaps. Results indicate that health communication activities are not clearly delineated in national public health structures and policies, there is an emphasis on crisis communication, and limited evaluation of activities and education and training opportunities for health communication are required. The facilitation of partnership working with a forum for knowledge exchange between Member States would enhance efficacious health communication.