What are the main interests of this new TWG? What questions do you wish to pursue?
We felt that the exchange at national and international conferences about the specific area of health communication was very fruitful for our work. We wanted to provide a similar academic home for health communication researchers in Europe. The TWG Health Communication wants to be a forum to discuss issues and present current research dedicated to analysing the challenges of health communication.
We also think that in bringing together health communication scholars from different parts of Europe, we can better understand how different historical trajectories, national differences in cultural dimensions, health systems, and policies shape health communication. Additionally, we want to provide network opportunities for future international collaborations and grant proposals.
Further details about our section objectives can be also found on the ECREA website.
How is this subject of research significant for the current media and communication research? And why is it of importance to the ECREA community?
Health communication emerged in the 1970s in the U.S. and is a comparatively young academic discipline in the field of communication and media studies. However, due to significant advances in medicine and media technologies as well as the growing relevance of health in society, health communication has gained considerable popularity. Four factors are likely to be contributing to the further establishment of the field as an academic discipline in Europe.
First, it can be expected that, due to increasing health costs, the relevance of prevention and respective communication campaigns will increase. Researchers of the proposed TWG will help to identify determinants and content of effective interventions for health promotion and behaviour change.
Second, an increasing interest in the study of health-related use of social media and the use of high-tech communication tools (e.g. eHealth and mHealth) in health care can be observed. Researchers of the TWG will contribute theoretically and empirically to this topic that will be driven otherwise by medical practitioners and insurance companies.
Third, it can be expected that the field of medical communication will gain considerable importance in the future due to the increasing availability of a large amount of medical information. Access to and effective use of relevant, accurate, and timely health information is of critical importance for health-related decisions across the continuum of care from prevention, treatment, disease management and end-of-life. Besides the potential benefits of analyzing large data sets, our TWG will also address critical aspects like data protection and ethical issues of using these data.
And fourth, with increasing technology and information available, patient outcomes such as satisfaction, information recall and adherence to therapy are more and more contingent on the communication skills of both patients and the medical professionals. The TWG will contribute to this topic by addressing issues of health-related media literacy, inequality between societal groups, and respective actions to lessen negative outcomes and improve health communication.
To which scholars should this new TWG be of most interest – whom do you wish to address and invite to join?
Health communication is a subfield of communication research that is very transdisciplinary and includes various methodological approaches. As such it addresses scholars from various subdisciplines of communications research (and the respective ECREA Sections and TWGs). Nevertheless, the topic of health and the broad spectrum of health issues present unique communication challenges. We are convinced that our TWG will enable both cooperation across the existing sections, and the inclusion of an internationally well established and distinct academic discipline within ECREA.
Topics covered include media effects on information processing, knowledge and health related behaviour, the representation of health-related topics in the media, the role of new communication technologies in health-related contexts, campaign strategies, doctor-patient interactions, health-related communication in social networks, and other related aspects of health communication.
The Health Communication Working Group promotes innovative theoretical approaches alongside sound empirical research. The Working Groups pursue an open and inclusive policy that encompasses a broad range of theoretical perspectives from cultural to institutional approaches, qualitative as well as quantitative research, micro and macro-level investigations, single-case studies, interventions, and large-scale comparative research.
Can you please present the management team?
The three chairs are well established and very experienced in the field of health communication. They published many journal articles and textbooks about aspects of health communication, founded (or co-founded) research centres of health communication, organized corresponding conferences, are integrated in both national and international networks of health communication scholars, and have led several internationally acknowledged research projects related to the field of health communication.
The management team consists of chair Dr. Doreen Reifegerste, Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media, Germany, and the two vice-chairs: Prof. Dr. Thomas N. Friemel, University of Zuerich, Switzerland, and Prof. Dr. Julia C.M. van Weert, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Doreen Reifegerste , Thomas N. Friemel, Julia C.M. van Weert
What are your next plans (short and long term)?
At our session at the ECC conference in Lugano this year we want to present the different “European perspectives on Health Communication”. The invited speakers will represent regional research groups in health communication or sections of national communication research associations. This enables us to learn about the different approaches and organizational structures in Europe that are relevant for health communication.
We plan to have a Health Communication Conference in 2019 in Germany with an open call for diverse panels, where European health communication scientists have the opportunity to present their research and discuss their different perspectives.
To keep updated on the news of the TWG, please write an email to the chair Doreen Reifegerste or subscribe to the TWG’s forum at the new ECREA Website.
Tereza Pavlickova
