bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Economic Analysis of Infectious Disease Consultation forStaphylococcus aureusBacteremia Among Hospitalized Patients
Authors: Pliakos Elina Eleftheria , Ziakas Panayiotis D. , Mylonakis Eleftherios
Published: September 2022

Importance

Staphylococcus aureusbacteremia is associated with a significant burden of mortality, morbidity, and health care costs. Infectious disease consultation may be associated with reduced mortality and bacteremia recurrence rates.

Objective

To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of infectious disease consultation forStaphylococcus aureusbacteremia.

Design, Setting, and Participants

In this economic evaluation, a decision-analytic model was constructed comparing infectious disease consult with no consult.The population was adult hospital inpatients withStaphylococcus aureusbacteremia diagnosed with at least 1 positive blood culture. Cost-effectiveness was calculated as deaths averted and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios. Uncertainty was addressed by plotting cost-effectiveness planes and acceptability curves for various willingness-to-pay thresholds. Costs and outcomes were calculated for a time horizon of 6 months. The analysis was performed from a societal perspective and included studies that had been published by January 2022.

Interventions

Patients received or did not receive formal bedside consultation after positive blood cultures forStaphylococcus aureusbacteremia.

Main Outcomes and Measures

The main outcomes were incremental difference in effectiveness (survival probabilities), incremental difference in cost (US dollars) and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (US dollars/deaths averted).

Results

This model included 1708 patients who received consultation and 1273 patients who did not. In the base-case analysis, the cost associated with the infectious disease consult strategy was $54 137.4 and the associated probability of survival was 0.77. For the no consult strategy, the cost was $57 051.2, and the probability of survival was 0.72. The incremental difference in cost between strategies was $2913.8, and the incremental difference in effectiveness was 0.05. Overall, consultation was associated with estimated savings of $55 613.4/death averted (incremental cost-effectiveness ratio, −$55613.4/death averted). In the probabilistic analysis, at a willingness-to-pay threshold of $50 000, infectious disease consult was cost-effective compared with no consult in 54% of 10 000 simulations. In cost-effectiveness acceptability curves, the consult strategy was cost-effective in 58% to 73%) of simulations compared with no consult for a willingness-to-pay threshold ranging from $0 to $150 000.

Conclusions and Relevance

These findings suggest that infectious disease consultation may be a cost-effective strategy for management ofStaphylococcus aureusbacteremia and that it is associated with health care cost-savings.
An investigation into urban heat mitigation by adopting local climate zones and land surface temperatures in the Tokyo prefecture
Authors: O'Malley Christopher , Kikumoto Hideki
Published: September 2022

This study aimed to investigate urban forms susceptible to heightened heat intensities in the Tokyo Prefecture in Japan. Adopting Landsat 8 data at a pixel resolution of 100 m, local climate zones (LCZ) were identified. LCZs contain urban forms which are primarily defined by building compactness and height. Daytime spatial distribution of land surface temperatures (LST) was provided by MODIS 100 m resolution data from 2013 to 2021. Median LSTs for compact and super high‐rise, high‐rise, mid‐rise, and low‐rise LCZs were 34.4, 35.5, 37.3, and 38.1°C, respectively. Additionally, LSTs for open and super high‐rise, high‐rise, and mid‐rise LCZs were 37.4, 37.5, and 37.1°C, respectively. Therefore, this suggests lower‐rise and open LCZs are prone to increased urban heat intensities and higher‐rise and compact LCZs are an urban heat mitigation strategy. Open mid‐rise also offers heat reduction capabilities. Compact low‐rise and open mid‐rise spatial analysis also confirmed this trend with vegetation indices validating urban configuration as significantly influencing LSTs. Furthermore, due to LSTs constituting heat health risks, 11 municipalities comprised of predominantly compact low‐rise LCZs were identified as a priority for urban heat mitigation. Among these, Nakano, Nerima, and Suginami posed the greatest heat risks.
Chaplaincy
Authors: Spates Stephen A.
Published: September 2022

This entry provides an overview on chaplaincy in healthcare. The act of providing spiritual care to various groups of people allows the chaplain to have a unique and special role in organizations. Chaplains are specifically trained and certified to carry out their responsibilities in hospital settings. Not only are they knowledgeable in theological understandings, but they also learn about the medical environments. Clinical pastoral education, known as CPE, is a required part of the educational curriculum for chaplains. Historically sponsored by medical institutions, CPE programs allow for a fully rounded perspective of science and spirituality. In the healthcare environment, chaplains experience many communication interactions. They are directly involved with providing care to patients and family, hospital staff, and community members.
Gender and the Clinician–Patient Relationship
Authors: Markovich Hayley T. , Blanch‐Hartigan Danielle
Published: September 2022

Decades of research examining the relationship between gender and communication in clinical interactions have demonstrated the role of patient gender, clinician gender, and gender concordance in perception, communication behaviors, and clinical outcomes. Gender disparities exist in prescribing behavior and treatment recommendations, with female patients often receiving less aggressive and evidence‐based care than male patients. Female and male patients may also engage in different behaviors and focus on different topics during clinical interactions. The gender of the clinician is also a factor in clinical communication. Some large‐scale studies suggest that patients treated by female physicians have better clinical outcomes. Role congruity theory, communication accommodation theory, and intersectionality are frameworks to investigate how gender composition of the clinical dyad affects interaction behaviors and health outcomes. For example, changing models of patient care and the growth of patient‐centered communication, which includes stereotypically female communication styles, may lead female clinicians to be perceived differently than their male colleagues. Future research on the role of gender in clinician–patient communication needs to address a nonbinary definition of gender, as well as changing gender norms, patient expectations, and clinical care delivery models.
Triadic Communication
Authors: Wollney Easton
Published: September 2022

Triadic communication is fundamentally different than dyadic communication in healthcare settings, as triadic communication includes a third person in the interaction and changes the group dynamics. This third person is typically a companion or informal caregiver, though the relationship between the patient and caregiver, as well as the role of the third person, depends on factors such as age, disease context, and healthcare setting. For example, in pediatric settings the caregiver is typically a parent, whereas in geriatric settings the third person is often a spouse or adult child. In contexts where a patient is legally a minor, such as in pediatric care, or in settings where a patient is in poorer health, such as in dementia care, the third person is likely to play a greater role in the interaction. However, in cases where the patient is able to act with greater levels of autonomy, the third person may primarily act as a source of emotional support, such as in cancer care. While research has shown that the triadic interaction is distinct and consists of unique dynamics compared to dyadic interactions, there is evidence that triadic communication rarely takes place effectively. Instead, these types of healthcare interactions are often made up of two separate dyadic interactions. Finally, research has primarily approached healthcare communication from a dyadic context and there is a lack of triadic communication research.
Informal and Formal Networks
Authors: Voorhees Heather L.
Published: September 2022

When faced with a serious health issue or disability, people seek different types and levels of social support from various sources. An individual's
formal support network
consists of professionally trained, (often) paid service providers and groups for whom delivering physical assistance, resources, emotional support or psychological care is their stated, explicit purpose. An
informal support network
is a group of individuals or organizations who are not financially or legally required to provide care or comfort to an individual, but do so by choice or because they feel emotionally obligated. Both networks offer unique benefits and limitations, and are utilized in different situations. Informal support networks mainly provide support defined as “help,” which is voluntary assistance that fits into the provider's own available time. Formal networks are typically relied on to provide “care,” which is more demanding, more technical, and follows clear‐cut requirements and expectations.
Crystallization
Authors: Ellingson Laura L.
Published: September 2022

A crystallization framework serves to enhance richness, validities, and translatability of qualitative, interpretive, critical, and multi‐method health communication research. Crystallization enables researchers to combine multiple methods and multiple genres into a single text or series of texts. The juxtaposition of both social scientific and narrative, performative, or artistic representations generates rich and openly partial accounts of phenomena that problematize their own construction, highlight researchers' positionality, make claims about socially constructed meanings, and reveal the indeterminacy of all knowledge claims. Integrated crystallization combines multiple genres into a single text, while dendritic crystallization involves a dispersed process of making meaning through multiple methods and multiple genres in a series of separate, yet related texts. Crystallization aids researchers in fulfilling requirements of grants to disseminate research findings to participant communities, share them with general publics, and translate them for practice with healthcare clinicians or public health professionals.
Disaster Fieldwork
Authors: Horsley J. Suzanne
Published: September 2022

As disasters become more frequent and more severe in our tightly coupled, technologically dependent global society, the field of disaster science will see more opportunities for growth and maturation of research design and theory development. Health communication researchers conducting fieldwork need disaster‐related training to be prepared for the unique challenges of entering the field and collecting data from potentially vulnerable participants. This entry provides an introduction to disaster fieldwork, reviews methods used for conducting field research, offers considerations for researchers going into the field, and presents ethical issues for research involving human subjects in a disaster setting.
Psychophysiological Measurement
Authors: Floyd Kory , Woo Nathan T.
Published: September 2022

Psychophysiology is the study of how psychology, behavior, and physiology are interrelated. In the communication discipline, methods of psychophysiological measurement – including those exploring the nervous, cardiovascular, endocrine, and immune systems – have the potential to illuminate how social behavior can either enhance or inhibit wellness. Communication behaviors not only make use of multiple physiological systems, but they, in turn, act upon those systems in ways that carry implications for physical health. The field of health communication has already applied psychophysiological measurement to the task of exploring how relational behaviors (e.g, social support and affection) provide stress‐buffering effects and how relational conflict – particularly when characterized by problematic behaviors such as a demand/withdraw pattern or reciprocity of negative affect – can be threatening to health. Future research can meaningfully extend these findings by developing and testing communicative interventions, particularly those with the potential to enhance immunocompetence.
Clinical Decision Support Systems
Authors: Salazar Leslie Ramos
Published: September 2022

This entry provides an overview of the definitions, technological platforms, communication technologies, and noncomputerized tools of clinical decision support systems (CDSS). CDSS are systems that provide advice to those who make decisions. CDSS improve the decision‐making process by offering several recommendations that are uniquely tailored to each specific patient, and these recommendations guide clinicians to improve their decisions during treatments, drug diagnosis, and medical adherence. Different types of CDSS including knowledge‐based, non‐knowledge‐based, and function‐based are also discussed. CDSS have advantages and disadvantages that need to be considered in the healthcare field. Future research needs to continue to investigate the effectiveness of CDSS using health communication theories and factors, and qualitative methodologies.
Text Mining
Authors: Beeksma Merijn , Hendrickx Iris , Das Enny
Published: September 2022

Text mining is used to analyze large collections of texts automatically, helping us to aggregate, search, discover, yield, and exploit information in an effective and efficient way. The need for techniques to efficiently process text is growing alongside the increasing availability of large amounts of health data from medical records and social media, for example. This entry gives an overview of text mining from the perspective of health communication, by explaining the goal of text mining, naming much used techniques and resources, providing examples of applications in the health domain, and highlighting some crucial challenges and opportunities.
Framing: Media
Authors: Rosset Magdalena , Jaspersen Miriam , Baumann Eva
Published: September 2022

Frames are socially shared patterns of interpretation that guide journalists' information selection and structuring, manifest in media content, and can be found as cognitive structures in the minds of recipients. Framing, then, refers to the active process of selecting and creating frames. Media frames are the result of a framing process in which the frames of strategic communicators interact with journalistic frames, and which can affect recipients' perception and interpretation of an issue, their attitudes, emotions, and behaviors. Media framing is one of the most prevalent concepts in communication research, which is also widely utilized in health communication research. This entry provides an overview of media framing, different types of frames, and framing effects. A specific focus lies on the relevance and application of media framing in health communication research.
Warning Labels
Authors: Mollen Saar
Published: September 2022

To allow consumers to make informed decisions and to encourage them to make healthier choices many product packages contain (warning) labels. These can vary from nutrition labels and ingredient lists on food and drinks packaging to health warnings on alcohol containers, and graphic fear appeals on tobacco packs. Labeling policies vary for tobacco, food and nonalcoholic drinks, and alcoholic drinks. Findings show that many different labeling strategies are used, and that especially for alcohol products labeling is less common. While labeling strategies seem promising, more research is needed to find out which specific labeling strategy is most effective for which product.
Activation Model of Information Exposure (Sensation Seeking)
Authors: Helme Donald W.
Published: September 2022

This entry provides a brief background and explanation of the activation model of information exposure (AMIE) and the sensation‐seeking principles upon which it is based. A central focus of AMIE is sensation seeking – a biologically based personality trait characterized by novelty seeking and risk‐taking – which consistently has been shown to be associated with risky health behaviors by teenagers and young adults who also have distinct preferences for novel and arousing messages. For several decades AMIE has been employed by campaign practitioners who wish to incorporate sensation‐seeking principles to attract and hold the attention of high‐ or low‐sensation seekers to better enable processing of persuasive messages. A brief discussion of the sensation‐seeking targeting (SENTAR) approach and message sensation value is also included.
Cultivation Theory
Authors: Diefenbach Donald L.
Published: September 2022

This entry provides an overview of cultivation theory. Cultivation is both a theory and a research program in mass communication used to explain and study the long‐term effects of heavy television viewing on audience beliefs and attitudes. Cultivation has proven to be a robust and resilient paradigm and has been refined and expanded since it was first articulated in the 1970s. Cultivation remains a popular theoretical model for studying media effects today.
Health Information Seeking Theories
Authors: Greyson Devon
Published: September 2022

Theories of health information seeking and related behaviors have proliferated since the 1980s. Health information seeking theories originate in many disciplines, including communication, information science, and health disciplines such as nursing or health promotion. Basing health communication research and practice in theory increases the likelihood of successfully achieving one's goals. However, selecting an appropriate theory base for a given endeavor is important. Health information seeking theories may be descriptive or predictive, focused on personal or professional health information seeking, and take approaches ranging from the cognitive to social construction of practices. They range from high‐level principles applicable across most information seeking to mid‐level models specific to given populations, contexts, or health topics. Some health information seeking theories frame seeking itself as the outcome of interest, while others approach seeking as a means to an end. In some cases, an information seeking theory that is not health‐specific may provide the best fit, or may complement health behavior theory, to inform and guide communication research and practice.
Social Norms
Authors: Chung Minwoong , Lapinski Maria Knight
Published: September 2022

This entry addresses the role of theories of social norms in health communication research and practice, introduces several theories most frequently used in the health communication literature, followed by gaps and recommendations for future research.
Uncertainty in Illness
Authors: Kuang Kai
Published: September 2022

This entry introduces the concept of uncertainty in illness – focusing specifically on the uncertainty in illness theory (UIT), the reconceptualized uncertainty in illness theory (RUIT), and the theory of motivated information management (TMIM). Uncertainty is commonly experienced in illness contexts and a key construct of interest to many health communication‐related fields and disciplines (e.g., health psychology, medical decision making, nursing research, public health). The critical role of uncertainty in illness is evident in research that focuses on antecedents to and appraisal of uncertainty, ways of coping with uncertainty, as well as relational and communicative outcomes of illness uncertainty. The three theoretical frameworks introduced in this entry, together with other theories of uncertainty and communication in this volume (e.g., problematic integration theory, uncertainty management theory), contribute to sophisticated theoretical and practical understandings of uncertainty in illness. Future health communication research should continue to unpack the complexities of uncertainty experienced in illness, investigate factors that influence uncertainty and uncertainty appraisal in illness contexts, and examine adaptive strategies that can facilitate effective coping with illness uncertainty.
Person‐First Language
Authors: Shelton Summer S.
Published: September 2022

This entry provides an overview of language used when discussing disabilities or addressing people with disabilities. Person‐first language addresses and centers a person rather than their disability. For example, person‐first language addresses someone with a disability as a “person with a disability” or “person who is blind.” This stands in contrast to identity‐first language which centers a person's identity around their disability and directly addresses it. Identity‐first language examples would include “Deaf person” or “Disabled person.” There is division in the disability community regarding which language should be used as person‐first is preferred by some members of the disability community, while others prefer identity‐first. Because of this, many scholars, organizations serving people with disabilities, and people with disabilities advocate for the use of language that the person with a disability prefers, or a person‐centered approach. However, many organizations, including the American Psychological Association, recommend that those who are non‐disabled use person‐first language when writing about disabilities or addressing people with disabilities until preferred terms are established.
Disclosure Decision‐Making Model
Authors: Lee Lauren E. , Greene Kathryn
Published: September 2022

This entry provides an introduction to Greene's disclosure decision‐making model (DD‐MM) and reviews health communication‐based literature testing, utilizing, and applying the theory. While several information management theories and frameworks consider uncertainty management and information‐seeking practices, they overlook an important opportunity to capture disclosers' engagement in systematic decision making about how and why private health information is communicated to others. The DD‐MM provides a holistic understanding of the factors that individuals evaluate and weigh preceding the choice to share with or withhold health information – including diagnoses and ongoing health updates – from a particular communication target. The DD‐MM suggests that prior to disclosing private health‐related information, communicators engage in complex decision‐making processes which, taken together, determine the content, breadth, depth, and targets of disclosure acts. The DD‐MM considers the discloser's viewpoint, illuminating direct and indirect effects on disclosure decision‐making that occur prior to a decision regarding a communicative act. This approach provides conceptual grounding for how information appraisals (i.e., stigma, preparation, prognosis, symptoms, and relevance to others), receiver appraisals (i.e., relational quality, anticipated response), and perceptions of disclosure efficacy contribute to enactment of and outcomes of (non)disclosure across contexts, situations, and communication goals. The entry reviews qualitative and quantitative research testing and applying the DD‐MM, ending with critique and future research.
Problematic Integration Theory
Authors: Kwitonda Jean Claude , Babrow Austin
Published: September 2022

This entry provides an overview of problematic integration (PI) theory, its relationship to communication, application to health communication, and evaluation in contexts where meaning is likely to be troublesome. PI theory posits that problematic meanings arise due to different forms of uncertainty (when we are not sure what to believe), ambivalence (when evaluative meanings are conflictual), divergence (when the desirable is unlikely or the undesirable is likely), and impossibility (when the desirable is simply out of reach or when the undesirable is inescapable or certain). The vast majority of PI applications have been in the domain of health communication where it has helped researchers refine forms of troublesome meanings in domains that involve uncertainty such as sex, pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, genetics, hypercholesterolemia, aging, moving to assisted living, experiences with cancer (e.g., prostate, breast), advance care planning, end‐of‐life decision making, and hospice. A notable claim suggested by PI theory is that communication will be most valuable as a coping resource when adapted to specific forms of PI. However, communication may be problematic when uncertainty is “ontological” or when the problematic meanings involve ambivalence or impossibility.
Social Media: WeChat, Weibo
Authors: Mao Yuping , Yang Qinghua
Published: September 2022

This entry provides an introduction to Weibo and WeChat, the two leading social media platforms in China. Although Weibo and WeChat differ in their functionalities, both have been widely used to gratify individuals' needs of enjoyment, information, affection, and socialization. With the large and increasing numbers of users of Weibo and WeChat in the past few years, there has been emerging research on health topics as well as health communication effects on health outcomes and social behavioral change on both platforms.
Appeals: Negative Emotions, Other
Authors: Clayton Russell B. , Myrick Jessica Gall
Published: September 2022

Health communication researchers and practitioners have utilized a variety of appeals to arouse negatively valenced emotions such as disgust, guilt, and anger, with the goals of motivating audience members to adopt message claims, alter attitudes, and promote healthy behaviors. Thus, health communication and emotion scholars must understand the importance and distinction between different types of negative appeals that elicit discrete negative emotions such as disgust, guilt, and anger. The goal of this entry is to provide an overview of types of negative appeals, or tactics, often used in health campaigns that might elicit these types of emotional responses in audience members and how these emotions influence a variety of information processing and persuasive outcomes.
Appeals: Positive Emotions
Authors: Nabi Robin L. , Qi Li
Published: September 2022

In the realm of emotional, health‐oriented persuasive appeals, negative emotions, fear in particular, have received the lion's share of attention. However, there has been increasing interest in harnessing the power of positive emotions to motivate meaningful health behavior change. The persuasive influence of both hope and amusement has been of greatest interest, with some emerging interest in pride and gratitude. A description of each of these four emotions and the state of the literature for each as related to health messaging are reviewed.
Media Advocacy
Authors: LaPoe Benjamin R. , LaPoe Victoria L. , Woellert Allyson
Published: September 2022

Getting the word out through media is essential to public health. Moving this process from the individual to public collective not only importantly impacts the quality of lives, it also puts in place public health policy. A key to health communication is the goal of changing behavior. Over the years this form of advocacy has addressed topics such as smoking, AIDS/HIV, and COVID‐19. With the growth of social media, campaigns and messaging to inform publics about prevention, consequences, and alternatives have also grown. With these public health efforts, media creators and message senders, such as specific health organizations, are partnering together to cross‐pollinate resources and efforts.
Diffusion of Innovations Model
Authors: Zhu Xun
Published: September 2022

The diffusion of innovations model explains why some, but not other, innovations are taken up widely and rapidly in a social system. By some counts, the diffusion of innovations model is the most cited communication theory. This entry summarizes the diffusion of innovations model, including its historical development, core concepts, and theoretical propositions. The entry reviews key concepts such as innovations' attributes, adopter categories, opinion leadership, communication channels, and reinvention, and illustrates them with examples from health communication research. The entry concludes with major criticisms of the theory and its research paradigm.
Interactional Sensitivity
Authors: Wingard Leah , Koenig Christopher J.
Published: September 2022

Interactional sensitivity is a type of communication work that has been used to analyze health communication encounters. Understood as an aspect of patient‐centered communication, interactional sensitivity happens when a clinician tailors their interactional and embodied communication to the particulars of a patient's lifeworld experiences, preferences, and the patient's health trajectory. Interactional sensitivity is particularly relevant during delicate or sensitive moments where there are competing interactional priorities. In medical encounters this may include moments of medication intensification, when breaking potentially bad news to the patient, or when medical uncertainty is particularly high. Overall, interactional sensitivity emphasizes tailoring communication to balance patient and clinician perspectives, particularly to balance clinician power and authority with patient agency and autonomy when managing illness.
Message Design: Health Disparities Strategies
Authors: Cohen Elisia L. , Kinzer Hannah
Published: September 2022

Health message strategies can ameliorate communication inequalities to address health disparities. This entry provides an introduction to Viswanath's conception of communication inequalities as it relates to message strategies to reduce health disparities. Using a communication inequality lens to evaluate message design needs allows researchers to identify and examine general audience, targeted, and tailored communication strategies with respect to how they may ameliorate communication inequalities at multiple levels of analysis. By identifying the reach and impact of message strategies designed to reduce the disparate burden of health disparities on communities, it is possible to provide a communication‐based perspective on how micro‐level and macro‐level inequalities are affected by various intervention strategies.
Cancer: Fatalism
Authors: Sardessai‐Nadkarni Arti A.
Published: September 2022

Cancer fatalism is a belief that cancer diagnosis or survival is attributed to fate, is considered predetermined, and is beyond an individual's power to control. Racial/ethnic differences are evident in how it manifests among various minority groups of color compared to Whites. Cancer fatalism is recognized as a significant barrier to cancer prevention, screening, and treatment. Cancer fatalism has also been studied in the context of cancer genomics, specifically its association with people's genetic causal beliefs about cancer and their uptake of predictive genetic testing. In communication literature, cancer fatalism has been found to negatively influence various important health communication behaviors, as well as be influenced by media exposure and effects.
Disabilities
Authors: Parsloe Sarah M.
Published: September 2022

Health communication scholars have conceptualized disability in multiple ways, drawing from the biomedical, social, and integrative models of disability. These varying conceptualizations of disability have inspired researchers to focus on a wide range of communication phenomena in relation to disability, including coping, stigma management, social support, advocacy, activism, media representation, and the rhetorical nature of ableism.
Health Disparities: Asian American
Authors: Xiao Zhiwen
Published: September 2022

There is an erroneous assumption that Asian Americans are a small group with good overall health that does not warrant health promotion. In fact, Asian Americans are facing challenging and serious health issues just as other racial/ethnic groups do. Health disparities exist between Asian Americans and other racial/ethnic groups and within Asian American subgroups. This entry uses self‐perceived health status and leading causes of death to reflect health disparities among Asian Americans. Factors such as underuse of healthcare services, lifestyle change, and health behaviors that contribute to the health disparities are analyzed.
Weight: Stigma
Authors: Turner Monique Mitchell
Published: September 2022

Weight stigma is discrimination based on an individual's weight. Stigma occurs when a community at large holds a common belief regarding the disgrace of certain people. Weight stigma is a widespread, socially acceptable bias in the United States. Stigma is propagated by communication. Stigma messages have four common attributes: (i) content cues (visuals and language) to mark the stigmatized; (ii) categorization of the stigmatized as a separate social entity; (iii) linkages of the stigmatized with “physical and social peril”; and (iv) placement of personal responsibility on the stigmatized. Messages in news media, television programming, and campaigns may use verbal and/or visually stigmatizing messages to depict people with obesity as weak‐willed, unmotivated, lazy, and unkempt – perpetuating stereotypical views. Turner and colleagues' analysis indicated that 13.2% of the print ads coded contained at least some stigmatizing elements – representing 44% of the campaigns included in the analysis. In other words, nearly half of the obesity‐related campaigns studied used some stigmatization in at least some of their materials. Weight stigma prevention recommendations are provided.
PrEP
: Pre‐Exposure Prophylaxis
Authors: Dai Minhao
Published: September 2022

This entry offers an introduction to pre‐exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), the current global practices of PrEP, some of its research, and the role of health communication in PrEP research. PrEP is a highly effective oral HIV prevention medication that can be taken daily or on demand, and a wide range of populations who are at risk of contracting HIV use it. The global uptake rate is steadily increasing but is far below the World Health Organization's goal. There is a robust body of PrEP research in clinical trial studies, implementation and demonstration projects, and social scientific research. Current health communication research has examined the impacts of patient–provider communication, stigmatized conversations, and social media communication on PrEP uptake and adherence. Future health communication research can play an essential role in understanding how informal interpersonal communication, message effectiveness, and mediated information seeking impact PrEP use.
Climate Change
Authors: Thaker Jagadish
Published: September 2022

Climate change is one of the biggest threats to human health and well‐being. This entry summarizes direct and indirect impacts of climate change on public health. It then reviews evidence of public knowledge and media attention to climate change as a public health issue. It evaluates the effectiveness of communicating health impacts of climate change to foster public attention and engagement. It concludes by focusing on challenges and opportunities for health communication scholars to help communicate climate change, which is also the single biggest opportunity of the twenty‐first century to achieve equitable progress on improving global health outcomes.
Caregiving: Paid
Authors: Hopeck Paula
Published: September 2022

This entry provides an overview on the research of paid caregiving. Paid caregivers are nonfamily caregivers who help with caregiving responsibilities of an individual. Paid caregivers are becoming increasingly important for the aging population, as they provide a respite for family members, and can contribute valuable information about their clients to physicians, making them a potentially important part of the healthcare team. The first part of this entry will review some of the positions that are considered “paid caregiving” and the tasks that they might perform, and the projected need across the United States for paid caregiving. Then, the relationship between the family and the paid caregiver and the value of the caregiver to the client is reviewed. Paid caregivers may become just as attentive to the client as a family member, and having a paid caregiver allows a client to stay in their home instead of going to assisted living. Challenges of paid caregiving include high turnover and safety. The entry concludes with areas for further research.
Academic Organizations: Society for Health Communication
Authors: Walker Kathleen , Savage Terry , Bernhardt Jay M.
Published: September 2022

The Society for Health Communication (Society) is a united group of health professionals, scholars, and students who collaborate to improve the impact of health initiatives by building a unified voice for health communication. Founded in 2015, the Society brings together experts and professionals from diverse sectors to create meaningful connections, share knowledge across disciplines, and advance the science of health communication. The Society is the only organization explicitly connecting individuals who work in public health, healthcare, medical communications, public relations and advertising, digital health, health communication research, and academia. Through its annual National Summit for Health Communication and a variety of activities and online resources, the Society provides opportunities for health communication professionals to connect and learn from thought leaders in the field. Facilitating information sharing across industries and connecting health communication professionals is central to the Society's mission. The Society offers individual and organizational membership options.
Opioid Use Disorder
Authors: Bejarano William A. , Yanovitzky Itzhak
Published: September 2022

Opioid use disorder (OUD), a unique type of substance use disorder defined as the continuous use of both prescription and illicit opioids despite physical, emotional, or legal harms, has emerged as a public international health crisis over the past 20 years, most critically in the United States. This entry provides a brief overview of the epidemiology of this disorder before detailing the role of communication in interventions integrated into the public health response to this crisis. Such interventions include health communication campaigns in the realm of public education efforts, responsible opioid prescribing practices, and community and institutional mobilization efforts designed to increase knowledge, change attitudes, and influence behaviors surrounding opioid use.
Distributive Justice
Authors: Hsieh Elaine
Published: September 2022

Distributive justice refers to the moral principles that guide the distribution of benefits and burdens in society. Three primary approaches to distributive justice are libertarianism, egalitarianism, and contractarianism. A libertarianism approach believes that freedom of choice should be the guiding principle. Individuals and governments are likely to resist mandatory health practices (e.g., mandatory childhood vaccination) if they prioritize libertarian principles. An egalitarianism approach argues that every person should have an equal claim on all available resources. In health contexts, egalitarianism generally means that individuals should have equal opportunities to access health resources. Because system‐level structures are necessary to ensure fair and equal distribution of resources, people who hold egalitarian attitudes are more likely to support government intervention for healthcare provision and support policies that offer noncitizens access to publicly funded healthcare. However, egalitarian approaches are insufficient to ensure a fair and just social system when resources are scarce. Because health resources are often scarce, health equity, which follows the principles of contractarianism, aims to provide solutions while addressing existing inequalities. By arguing that members of a community have a moral duty to cooperate with one another, individuals agree to provide more resources to the most vulnerable and disadvantaged members of their community so that society benefits as a whole from one generation to the next.
Social Determinants of Health
Authors: Zhu Ge , Young Rachel
Published: September 2022

This entry provides an introduction to social determinants of health (SDH), reviews existing research on the influence of SDH on health outcomes and health inequities, and suggests future directions for research on SDH interventions. Social factors, especially the “upstream” factors such as race, education, and socioeconomic status, have profound and persistent impacts on health. Interventions to address SDH can be effective in improving population health and reducing health disparities, yet they are difficult to accomplish due to the complex pathways through which the upstream factors act on health outcomes. Future SDH research should focus on advancing the knowledge of pathways and identifying effective interventions. Health communication researchers and practitioners need to consider effective means to educate the public about SDH and convince policymakers to address SDH.
CIH
(Complementary and Integrative Healthcare): Mindfulness/Meditation
Authors: Ramasubramanian Srividya
Published: September 2022

Meditation is a mind–body practice that involves turning one's attention inwards to anchor one's attention to still the mind and relax the body. Rooted in Indian yoga and Buddhist contemplative traditions, meditation has now been adopted across various cultures and contexts for holistic health, healing, and spiritual well‐being by reducing stress and increasing a sense of well‐being. Mindfulness is a type of meditation practice that involves nonjudgmental awareness in the present moment. This practice, which involves focusing on the body, breath, mind, and emotions without labeling them as pleasant or unpleasant, is known to increase self‐compassion, reduce reactivity to external challenges, and help reduce mind–body illnesses such as lower back pain, irritable bowel syndrome, migraines, acid reflux, and blood pressure. Loving‐kindness meditation is another form of meditation that is especially helpful in increasing compassion and empathy. Trauma‐informed approaches to yoga, meditation, and mindfulness are especially beneficial for trauma survivors. They also help healthcare clinicians to reduce compassion fatigue and burnout. Mindfulness in communication contexts has been applied to interpersonal and mediated contexts. It is often understood as thoughtful and flexible responses to specific discursive contexts rather than based on stereotypical mental models.
Language Brokering
Authors: Jones Liz , Pines Rachyl
Published: September 2022

Language brokering occurs when a child or adolescent without formal training acts as a cultural and linguistic interpreter and translator for two or more people who are from different cultural backgrounds. In the health context, one party is a family member and the other is a clinician. Language brokering in the health context is common although underrepresented in the literature, given that healthcare policies typically discourage or forbid the use of children as interpreters. Most research on this topic focuses on language brokering in hospitals. Language brokering of health information, however, goes beyond interpreting within a hospital or healthcare organization. Instead, it also occurs in the home and at the pharmacy or other stores as the language broker helps with translating written medical documents, interpreting for telehealth visits, and translating information on prescriptions or other medical items in a store. Language brokering is perceived differently by the parties involved, and can have both positive and negative outcomes for those parties. For example, some families report preferring a family member interpret for them, rather than a qualified interpreter, because they trust the family member to have their best interests at heart. Yet others prefer a qualified interpreter due to privacy concerns of their family member knowing their personal health information. Given the complexities of both healthcare systems and language brokering, more research is needed to assert appropriate changes in policy and practice that result in high‐quality patient care.
Cannabis
Authors: Lewis Nehama , Sznitman Sharon R.
Published: September 2022

This entry describes the way in which cannabis has been conceptualized and researched in health communication, as well as future directions for research on this topic. The prevalence of cannabis use for medical and recreational purposes has increased significantly in many countries, particularly where cannabis has been legalized for medical or recreational purposes. Alongside these shifts, there has been a significant increase in the volume of media content related to cannabis, especially on the Internet and social media. This content includes information about the risks of cannabis use, as well as pro‐cannabis content such as marketing and advertising messages. Health communication research has examined media discourse about cannabis and cannabis policy in news coverage, social media, and advertisements. This literature has used content analysis of media content, applying framing and agenda‐setting theory as well as critical discourse theory to understand how this topic is discussed in the media. Studies have also investigated the ways in which the media communicates scientific evidence related to the therapeutic as well as harmful effects of cannabis use. Researchers have examined media effects of cannabis content and found evidence to show that media coverage of cannabis influences public perceptions of the risks and benefits of cannabis, support for legalization, and cannabis use behaviors. As the public are increasingly exposed to cannabis content on the Internet, including on social media, health communication research on cannabis can further our understanding of the role of the media in shaping public discourse, attitudes, and cannabis use prevalence.
Health Consciousness
Authors: Acharya Lalatendu , Lee Hyemi
Published: September 2022

The health consciousness construct has continued to play a useful and significant role in predicting health behavioral intentions and related outcomes. Originated from marketing and consumer research on lifestyles and wellness, health consciousness has been adapted by researchers from various disciplines. Health communication and other researchers have consistently related health consciousness to health information seeking, information processing, communication channel selection, increased credibility of health information, health‐related self‐control, community participation, and health behavior change. It has also emerged as a useful evidence‐based tool for health audience segmentation. The health consciousness construct offers possibilities for further work in reconceptualizing it and developing and validating new scales that can be widely adopted, as well as conceptualizing and testing it in diverse cultural contexts. The reconfigured traditional media channels and the ever‐increasing communication opportunities provided by the Internet, social media, mobile phone applications, and artificial intelligence present a fertile ground for advancing research regarding health consciousness's ability to predict behavior.