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Editor’s
Note:
Our
anniversary gave us an opportunity to reflect
on what the Journal of Health Communication and other publications
have added to the knowledge and practice of health communication
and suggest some exciting directions for the future. The next
decade of JHC will build on what we have learned and prove
to be as valuable to communication scholarship as the first.
My recent Editorial
discusses Avian Influenza and its implications for health
communicators. This is an excellent example of the public
health issues that we will be facing in the coming years.
Scott
C. Ratzan, MD, MPA
Editor,
Journal of Health Communication
Vice
President, Government Affairs, Europe
Johnson
& Johnson
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In addition to submission guidelines and other practical information,
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Table
of Contents
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From the Journal:
Volume 11 Issue
1 (January/February 2006)
Our anniversary issue provides a look back
at health communication and offers direction for future research. Click
on the article titles to read a summary of
the findings.
Volume 11 Issue 2 (March 2006)
This issue features
three articles focused on health communication and technology: a content
analysis of online menopause message boards, an analysis of the contributing
factors to the use of health-related web sites and a study establishing
baseline data on self-reported use of Internet health information newly
diagnosed cancer patients. Also in this issue: a study of how physician
characteristics can influence women's acceptance of breast cancer clinical
trials and a study of interpersonal issues surrounding HIV counseling
and testing, and the phenomenon of "testing by proxy."
Prescriptions
Communication
is intended not just to enlighten and educate but also to
lead to action. These recommendations and "next steps"
are extracted from some of the articles in this issue of
the Journal of Health Communication. Click
on the title to read a short summary of the article.
-
Web
Chatter Before and After the Women's Health Initiative
Results: A Content Analysis of Online Menopause Message
Boards
-- Tara M. Cousineau, Traci Craig Green, Diana Rancourt
Analyses of online message boards provide a rich, economical
method to discern the needs of menopausal women. Health
message boards may be the first practical resource for
health promotion researchers to study, particularly in
assessing the health needs of a medical population and
capturing these specific concerns in the language of the
health consumer. Health message boards offer an important
resource for observing the potential impact of a widely
publicized medical event. Such a resource can inform innovative
strategies in health promotion for a target health population,
especially in the context of radical shifts in health
management guidelines, such as hormone therapies for menopausal
women.
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Contributing
Factors to the Use of Health-Related Websites
--Traci Hong
Understanding the underlying process for the intention
to revisit a health-related Website is important in that
it has both immediate and long-term health-related consequences.
One model by which online health-seekers revisit a Website
is Internet reliance and knowledge influences perceptions
of credibility which in turn influences the intention
to revisit a Website. Trust/expertise and in-depth are
the two most salient dimensions of Website credibility
for health-seekers with respect to whether they will revisit
a site. Website designers concerned with maintaining health
consumer base should seek to promote these credibility
perceptions.
-
The
Role of Physician Characteristics in Clinical Trial Acceptance:
Testing Pathways of Influence
-- Barbara Curbow, Linda A. Fogarty, Karen A. McDonnell,
Julia Chill, and Lisa Benz Scott
Authors studied how physician characteristics can influence
women's acceptance of breast cancer clinical trials through
knowledge, beliefs, and affective pathways. Based on their
findings, they recommend that clinical trial beliefs be
addressed before clinical trial information is presented.
Knowledge does not appear to be the deciding factor in
clinical trial acceptance, it must be considered within
the context of beliefs and affective factors (e.g., satisfaction
with the information provided). Physicians must be careful
that this interpersonal influence does not impede the
processing of information. Physicians with ongoing relationships
with cancer patients may need to be especially careful
in their assessment of patient understanding of clinical
trial information to ensure that decisions are not made
solely on an affective basis.
-
Interpersonal
Issues Surrounding HIV Counseling and Testing, and the
Phenomenon of "Testing by Proxy"
--Allison C. Morrill, Carey Noland
For those involved in HIV counseling and testing, and
other HIV prevention programs: overestimates of HIV
transmission contribute to a belief that if one member
of a couple tests negative after having unprotected
intercourse, the untested partner's serostatus must
also be negative. To discourage the dangerous practice
of "testing by proxy" and to encourage partner
testing, it is important to help couples understand
the unpredictability of transmission, and why one partner's
negative result does not establish the absence of HIV.
Modeling could be used to help normalize HIV testing
and condom use even within the context of an established,
loving relationship. Programs aiming to reduce heterosexual
HIV risk for women should include their male partners
and incorporate effective interpersonal communication
skills. Male partners' resistance is a significant obstacle
to testing and adopting safer sexual practices. Programs
need to develop ways to convey information so that men
will apply it to themselves, and not dismiss it.
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Related
Articles
Book
Review
A review of: "Handbook
of Health Communication" Thompson, T. L., Dorsey, A. M., Miller,
K. I., & Parrott, R. (Eds.) (2003). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
Reviewed by Jim
L. Query, Jr., University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA; Ellen W. Bonaguro,
Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY, USA; Toni Siriko, University
of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA; Brittney Maslowski, Western Kentucky University,
Bowling Green, KY, USA, and Jill Yamasaki, University of Houston, Houston,
TX, USA
This handbook includes
30 chapters, 753 pages of text, a 48-page author index, a 25-page subject
index, and six sections coupled with a brief editor-specific introduction.
Each editor took charge of content areas closely tied to their research
and teaching expertise. Katherine Miller edited section 1, focusing on
theoretical and meta-theoretical issues. Teresa Thompson served as editor
for section 2, provider-client communication. Alicia Dorsey edited section
3, social and community health issues, as well as the final section that
details "lessons learned." Katherine Miller assumed responsibility
for section 4, organizational forms and social support, and Roxanne Parrott
oversaw section 5, media and health campaigns. According to the editors,
the handbook seeks to provide synthesis, theory building, critique, and
a guide for future research to new and current members of the field. Using
key markers including the breadth, synthesis, and interdisciplinary nature
of the literature reviews; scope of current and future theoretical benefits;
relationship between theory and practice; and the extent to which the
respective authors attempt to move the discipline or field forward, the
review team assessed each chapter. This review seeks to highlight key
strengths and growth needs for each chapter, based on our collective experience
and expertise. We close the review by advancing four global observations.
Click
here to read the entire review
Coming
Soon to JHC
Two upcoming supplement issues highlight
important issues in health communication.
May 2006: NCI provides a scholarly
appraisal of the latest activities in cancer communication with data
from the first Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) conducted
in 2003.
August 2006: Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs
highlights methodologies for measuring the cost-effectiveness of health
communication programs and activities and to contribute to a growing
evidence base by presenting case studies in which cost-effectiveness
analysis has been applied to health communication activities.
News and Notes From Other Sources
Nominations
Sought
for 2006 Communication Awards. Nominations must be completed
online no later than April 7 for the 2006 National Academies Communication
Awards, which recognize excellence in reporting and communicating science,
engineering, and medicine to the public during 2005. Three $20,000 prizes
will be awarded to a book author; print or online journalist; and a
producer or reporter in television or radio.
April 20-22, 2006, Kentucky Conference
on Health Communication in Lexington KY. The theme for the 2006
conference is Emerging Trends in Health Communication. Confirmed speakers
include Don Cegala, Ohio State; Vicki Freimuth, University of Georgia;
Andrew Hayes, Ohio State; Michael Slater, Ohio State; Leslie Snyder,
University of Connecticut; Michael Stephenson, Texas A&M; Teresa
Thompson, University of Dayton; Vish Viswanath, Harvard; Neil Weinstein,
Rutgers. Thursday morning, there will be half-day methodology workshops
on hierarchical linear modeling (led by Andrew Hayes), meta-analysis
(led by Seth Noar and Leslie Snyder), and structural equation modeling
(led by Michael Stephenson & Rick Zimmerman), then methodology-focused
presentations and discussions Thursday afternoon; Friday and Saturday
will feature invited speakers and competitive paper and panel presentations.
http://comm.uky.edu/kchc/
Feedback and ideas for
content for this newsletter should be sent to Wendy Meltzer (iphwxm@gwumc.edu)
Visit
the brand new Routledge Communication Arena at
http://www.communicationarena.com/,
an online
resource for Communication academics, students and practitioners.
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