bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Interviewing/Focus Groups
Authors: Okamoto Kristen E. , Burress Hannah C.
Published: November 2022

Interviewing and focus group techniques are well‐established within the field of health communication as a means to appreciate and recognize the lived experiences of individuals living in the midst of varied health contexts. Today these techniques are ubiquitous for many health communication researchers, particularly those inclined toward qualitative methods. In this entry we discuss both interviewing and focus groups, paying close attention to the various objectives and contexts that are seen within each of these expansive areas of research. We end with a discussion of the implications for health communication researchers and practitioners.
Analogue Patients
Authors: Smets Ellen M. A. , van Vliet Liesbeth M. , Pieterse Arwen H. , Visser Leonie N.C. , Labrie Nanon H.M. , Hillen Marij A.
Published: November 2022

Analogue patients (APs) are individuals instructed for research purposes to imagine themselves in the position of a patient as portrayed in a written or recorded medical interaction. Subsequently, their experience or evaluation of and/or response to the interaction is assessed. Well thought‐out use of APs in patient–clinician communication research may enlighten the mechanisms underlying medical interactions, and thereby increase our ability to improve these interactions to the benefit of patients, their informal caregivers, and clinicians. Commonly, APs participate in experimental studies in which they are randomized to evaluate scripted variants of a medical interaction, so‐called vignettes. Sometimes, APs are involved to observe recordings of actual consultations. Involving APs rather than real patients allows for systematically testing the effect of variations in healthcare clinicians' communicative behavior, which may be unethical in real clinical practice. Moreover, researchers may use APs for practical (e.g., easier recruitment) or methodological (e.g., less socially desirable answers) reasons. A point of consideration is that the use of APs reduces ecological validity of the study. That is, findings cannot straightaway be extrapolated to real clinical consultations. Ecological validity will depend on APs' ability to engage with a vignette. Hence, attention to procedures to assess and enhance APs' level of engagement is necessary. Further research is needed to fully understand how APs' engagement, and thus the validity of using APs, can be improved.
Standardized Patients
Authors: Clark Lou
Published: November 2022

Standardized or simulated patients (SPs) are individuals purposefully coached to collaborate with healthcare educators and trainees on the teaching and practicing of learner clinical skills primarily focused on patient–clinician communication, medical interviewing, and physical exam skills. SPs work with healthcare students by portraying patients during simulated patient–clinician encounters, providing constructive feedback to students, and instructing them on physical exam skills. Standardized patient educators (SPEs) are simulation education professionals who manage SP programs. SPEs recruit, hire, orient, and coach SPs to participate in simulated education events designed to train learners affiliated with organizations such as university health sciences programs and hospitals. A key tenet behind the ubiquitous adoption of SP methodology in the United States since its inception in the 1960s is that SPs provide healthcare learners the opportunity to practice clinical skills without harming clinic or hospital patients or themselves. On March 11, 2020 when the World Health Organization announced the COVID‐19 global pandemic, SPEs were quick to pivot in‐person SP education events held onsite in simulation centers to synchronous online formats. Clinical faculty worked with SPEs to maximize this as an opportunity to support expanded initiatives online for telehealth training and interprofessional education. The future of SP methodology will likely meld innovations in distance learning achieved in the pandemic with onsite SP education in support of clinical skills training for health sciences learners.
Survivorship Care Planning
Authors: Miller Laura E.
Published: November 2022

This entry reviews the various challenges cancer survivors face as they transition from active treatment to long‐term survival. To assist with this transition, clinicians may design a blueprint to provide each patient with informational support, future treatment plans, and resources. Survivorship care planning addresses the physical and psychosocial needs of cancer survivors with the goal of coordinating healthcare communication and decreasing uncertainty throughout survivorship. Though barriers exist to its implementation, survivorship care planning may facilitate survivors' ability to cope with cancer's lingering challenges.
Medical Records, Electronic/Patient Portals
Authors: Volkman Julie E. , Clements Meredith L.
Published: November 2022

The purpose of this entry is to describe electronic medical records (EMRs) and patient portals and highlight some of the regulations and challenges associated with these health information technologies (HITs). HITs hold much promise for healthcare systems as they can reduce paper waste, improve communication between patients and clinicians, and offer ways to improve health outcomes.
Campaign Efficacy vs. Effectiveness
Authors: Huang Hsuan Yuan
Published: November 2022

Health campaigns aim to increase awareness and knowledge, influence attitude, and change behavior. Efficacy and effectiveness are two common measures of intervention effect on these cognitive and behavioral outcomes. While efficacy studies test the effect of message or treatment in ideal and controlled conditions, effectiveness studies test the performance of health intervention programs in usual real‐world circumstances. As efficacy study is explanatory in nature, and effectiveness study is pragmatic in nature, a trickle‐down model of progression from efficacy study to effectiveness study was proposed early on to illustrate how research can be translated into practice. Researchers, however, have questioned whether the success from laboratory efficacy studies can be generalized or applied to real‐world campaigns or effectiveness studies. With standardization and strict protocol, efficacy studies have been proven successful in testing intervention effect in experimental design, and thus have high internal validity. On the other hand, effectiveness studies usually take place in real‐world settings, allowing population‐based samples to be naturally exposed to campaign messages, and thus tend to have external validity. Valued for high generalizability and policy relevance, an ideal campaign effectiveness study will balance the validity equilibrium to a point where a satisfactory message efficacy accompanies a high degree of generalization by replicating the study in a real‐life setting.
Health Campaigns: Evaluation
Authors: Thai Chan L.
Published: November 2022

This entry describes the issues related to conducting health campaign evaluation. As a field that integrates key ideas from a range of disciplines, including public health, communication, and statistics among others, there are a range of decisions that need to be made to successfully conduct health campaign evaluation. Health campaign evaluations involve three general phases, formative, process, and outcome evaluation, and require engaging in a number of key steps and subsequent decisions related to developing SMART objectives, the use of theory, study design, data collection and analysis, and what data to utilize to assess campaign effectiveness. The typical convention has been to utilize comparison groups and mainly quantitative methods to determine campaign effectiveness. However, integrating newer methodological approaches may serve to determine which specific health campaign strategies are the most effective to influence health‐related cognitions and behaviors to improve the health of our communities.
Healthcare Teams
Authors: Santiago Joshua E.
Published: November 2022

Within the last two decades, health and organizational communication scholars have come to understand the importance of communication among healthcare teams. Effective communication in healthcare teams leads to positive patient outcomes. This entry examines the types of healthcare teams, research in communication and healthcare teams, and theoretical approaches to communication with healthcare teams. Given that healthcare teams play an essential role in healthcare organizations and in patient care, communication scholars are well placed to further inform this area of research.
Oral Health Promotion
Authors: Savage Matthew W. , Mitchell Mathew
Published: November 2022

This entry describes the term “oral health promotion,” which includes efforts put forth to improve the overall oral health of an individual or community by preventing and reducing the impact of oral diseases. The connection between oral health and overall health is explored. A disease prevention model is reviewed regarding oral health. The entry details how health communication scholars have conducted scholarship in two main areas – promoting the quality of communication between oral health clinicians and their patients and developing oral health communication campaigns. Health communication scholarship on the topic of oral health promotion is often multi‐ or interdisciplinary and works to address oral health disparities.
Chatbots and Health: Mental Health
Authors: Cheng Yang , Xie Chenxing , Wang Yanding , Jiang Hua
Published: November 2022

This entry provides a holistic review of the history of chatbots, chatbots' application in contemporary healthcare, and mental health in crises. It addresses different types of chatbots and summarizes four main features of chatbots applied for mental health in crises, including technological convenience, information, emotional support, and social companionship. Challenges and the future of chatbots for mental health are also discussed and implications for scholars and practitioners are mentioned.
Human–Computer Interaction
Authors: Slegers Karin
Published: November 2022

Human–computer interaction (HCI) is the field of research into how people use computerized systems, the impact such systems have, and how interfaces for and interactions with such systems should be designed. It was influenced by technological developments as well as several scientific domains including computer science, cognitive science, psychology, sociology, and cultural studies. Developments in HCI are commonly categorized into three waves. The first wave focused on modeling human cognition while using computers at work. The user was seen as a research subject, rigid usability guidelines were developed, and systematic performance testing was conducted. In the second wave, the role of the real‐life context became important, shifting the focus to distributed cognition, situated action, and interpersonal relations. The user played a central and active role in research and design activities (cf. user‐centered design). Wave three commenced with the introduction of computers in the private, everyday context of the home, and was characterized by a heightened interest in emotional aspects of HCI. The term “user experience” was coined, introducing a holistic view, including non‐utilitarian use of computers. Advances in health‐related HCI followed similar developments. Initially, computerized health systems were designed for clinicians in clinical settings, but contemporary applications are also designed for patients, or citizens in general, to use in everyday contexts. From this view, current trends in healthcare, such as shared decision making, patient‐centered care, and the shift to prevention and well‐being, align well with third‐wave HCI. However, challenges identified in all three waves remain unresolved for health applications.
Data Visualization
Authors: Yang Fan
Published: November 2022

Data visualization is a type of communication method that utilizes various visual displays to present numeric information, usually complicated big data sets, to audiences for better comprehension. With the accelerated achievement of computer software and technology, contemporary data visualization can be delivered to audiences in a variety of formats, including one of the most popular displays – interactive data visualization. It is not only practitioners who have been widely adopting data visualization for better communication in diverse contexts, such as health disease prevention and environmental protection, but communication scholars also have started to explore the mechanism of data visualization for comprehension and/or persuasion. This entry reviews the communication research related to data visualization and health, as well as the prospective study of this field.
Linguistic Agency Assignment
Authors: McGlone Matthew S. , Glowacki Elizabeth M. , Wang Yiwei
Published: November 2022

In linguistics, “agency assignment” refers to the verbal ascription of action in words to one or more entities in the discourse context. Agency assignment is a fundamental feature of language that can be manipulated to augment the persuasive impact of health messaging. It also serves as a linguistic marker of affective experience in people's spontaneous descriptions of health and illness.
Technology Acceptance Models
Authors: Magsamen‐Conrad Kate , Billotte Verhoff China C. , Dillon Jeanette M.
Published: November 2022

Although technology acceptance, use, and adoption processes have been studied for decades, not all theoretical frameworks or research studies relate directly to health communication. Some applications of acceptance, use, and adoption research to health issues have examined how technologies directly relate to maintaining health, how technologies create barriers to achieving health, and/or how individuals interact with medical systems. Several theories known well in adoption, use, and acceptance scholarship deserve further consideration in continued health communication studies. These theories include the technology acceptance model (TAM), the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT), diffusion of innovations theory (DOI), and uses and gratifications theory (U&G). Newer scholarship has also introduced technological capital (TC), which advances adoption and acceptance modeling by focusing on technological disparities leading to health communication implications.
Normative Aspects of Persuasion
Authors: Hansen Solveig L. , Schicktanz Silke
Published: November 2022

Persuasion is an intentional act of communication through which a speaker aims at changing a recipient's attitude, belief, or behavior. Different approaches have influenced the understanding of persuasion as well as its normative assessment. Whereas the psychological tradition understands persuasion as effective influencing, ethics and the political‐democratic tradition conceptualize it as deliberative argumentation. Analyzing persuasion from a normative perspective entails interrelated dimensions: the intention of the persuader, the autonomy of the persuadee, the moral implications of communicative means, and the effects and effectiveness of persuasive health interventions. Part of the normative analysis of persuasion is its distinction from other communication techniques, such as coercion, manipulation, and nudging. In four instances, persuasion is considered ethically problematic: (i) when it blurs information in such a way that autonomous decision making is no longer possible; (ii) when it excludes affected persons or vulnerable groups or when it addresses them inappropriately and leads to discrimination; (iii) when harms outweigh benefits; (iv) if aims are not deliberately determined and the respective means make individuals responsible for social issues. Where no social consensus regarding the goals can be assumed, it appears problematic to work with persuasion since this technique tends to obscure moral dissent.
Cancer: Prevention
Authors: Banerjee Smita C. , Cameron Kenzie A.
Published: November 2022

This entry describes communication approaches in cancer prevention, beginning with a delineation of behaviors that constitute primary (focus on stopping a cancerous process from developing), secondary (identify and control precancerous or cancerous processes occurring in the body and may include effective treatment as well), and tertiary (focus on those who already have a cancer diagnosis, and may include additional screening and early detection for secondary malignancies, or may focus on survivorship issues to improve one's quality of life). The ecological model of health behavior is described as the foundational approach for understanding cancer prevention behaviors across the five levels of the model, comprising individual, interpersonal, organizational, community, and public policy levels, and illustrative examples are provided. Intervention approaches for communication‐focused cancer prevention are presented next and include both narrative and non‐narrative approaches. Recommendations for future research are provided at the end.
eHealth Literacy
Authors: Parker Naomi D. , Paige Samantha R.
Published: November 2022

The concept and measurement of eHealth literacy have evolved over the past decades alongside technological advancements. In general, eHealth literacy refers to an individual's capacity to locate, evaluate, exchange, and use information from health communication technologies to benefit themselves and others. eHealth resources have the potential to enhance global healthcare systems and alleviate equity gaps in access and delivery, and scientific consensus remains that an array of health outcomes are related to eHealth literacy. Patient–clinician relationships, informed health decision making, healthcare engagement, and health behaviors are known to be positively influenced by eHealth literacy. Individuals lacking adequate eHealth literacy, however, cannot realize these benefits. eHealth literacy remains an important consideration for healthcare systems in designing, implementing, and disseminating ICTs. This entry describes the dynamic concept of eHealth literacy, its evolving definition, measurements, and practical applications.
Health Campaigns: Underserved/Vulnerable Populations
Authors: Bigman Cabral A.
Published: November 2022

Health campaigns have the potential to promote health equity by reducing health disparities. However, closing health gaps requires that health researchers and practitioners be attuned to how strategies in health campaigns affect disadvantaged populations, including vulnerable, underserved, and marginalized groups. In this review of different kinds of health intervention approaches and their relevance for health campaigns, a communication inequalities lens is applied to structure discussion and highlight ways that health campaigns can have disparate impact for disadvantaged populations. In addressing aspects of the communication inequalities framework, concepts such as digital inequalities, knowledge gaps, belief gaps, conversation gaps, power gaps, and the potential for algorithmically induced inequalities are introduced before concluding with a brief discussion of future research directions.
Health Disparities: Indigenous: Americas
Authors: Diaz Tressa P.
Published: November 2022

Indigenous peoples of the Americas are comprised of distinct and heterogeneous populations that reside across diverse settings and terrains. Health disparities are prevalent for these populations as they experience significantly poorer health outcomes compared to non‐Indigenous populations in key health indicators. A general overview of these disparities and the connection to colonial histories and sociopolitical contexts are briefly described. Emphasis is given to the need for disaggregated and meaningful data collection to facilitate health advocacy and policy, and the imperative to recognize Indigenous rights to self‐determination in order to advance Indigenous health and survival.
Health Disparities: Indigenous: Asia
Authors: Zapata Dazzelyn Baltazar , Kaur‐Gill Satveer
Published: November 2022

This entry discusses the health disparities experienced by Indigenous populations of Asia. Asia has the highest number of Indigenous people in the world. These communities often face disenfranchising health conditions. The needs of Indigenous communities are neglected by traditional health communication dissemination that is often top‐down. Top‐down health communication campaigns view communities as recipients of health directives and tend to be ignorant of Indigenous knowledge systems and health needs. Access issues are the most prevalent cause of health disparities. In the context of Asia, health access often refers to distance, remoteness, and assimilation. Communities living away from the city are forced out of their traditional abodes and pushed deeper into remote areas. Others are forced to assimilate with the mainstream population. Digital disparities add to the limitations communities face with accessing health information services.
Health Justice
Authors: Kim Heewon , Stanley B. Liahnna
Published: November 2022

This entry provides an overview of health justice theory and research, calling for further research that explicitly and proactively employs social justice perspectives in health communication. As the incorporation of a social justice perspective into health research requires scholars to revisit traditional notions of health, we begin with explicating evolving definitions of health from a justice point of view. In turn, we define and review the literature of health justice, accompanied by a brief description of related but distinct terms such as health disparity, health equality, and health equity. Additionally, we make a distinction between health justice and healthcare justice, which offers an important philosophical foundation for future research. Building on the literature, we in turn propose the core tenets of health justice approaches. Finally, we introduce key theoretical frameworks in health communication that are closely linked to health justice scholarship.
Physiological Responses to Stress
Authors: King Mary E.
Published: November 2022

This entry provides an overview of physiological responses to perceived or realistic stressors. Two endocrine pathways will be discussed: the sympathetic adrenomedullary (SAM) pathway and the hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenocortical (HPA) pathway. Stress responses prepare the body to respond to threat (either real or perceived) by mobilizing energy, increasing cardiac output, altering immune function, and inhibiting nonessential bodily functions. Dysregulated or chronically activated stress responses contribute to allostatic load, which contributes over time to etiology of physical illnesses including hypertension, heart disease, and infectious illnesses. Implications of prolonged physiological response are discussed as well as relevant research applications.
Violence: Gender
Authors: Hernández Leandra H.
Published: November 2022

In recent years, organizations such as the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control have deemed gender violence more broadly and violence against women more specifically a global public health epidemic and an urgent public health priority. One in three women worldwide has experienced violence (mental, physical, and sexual) inflicted by an intimate partner or non‐partner. In 2020, when COVID‐19, remote work, social distancing measures, and quarantine occurred, gender‐based violence rates skyrocketed, with scholars noting that COVID‐19 spurred a “shadow pandemic” resulting in increased rates of domestic violence, intimate partner violence, psychological distress, and separation from social support networks. Reports from the United Nations stress that the COVID‐19 pandemic intensified violence against women, especially given national and international urges to address and mitigate the pandemic, not necessarily the gender violence located within the pandemic. This entry first defines gender violence, then discusses critical health communication approaches to gender violence and the role of contemporary events in shaping research approaches to gender violence.
Health Campaigns: Cultural Tailoring
Authors: Storey Douglas
Published: November 2022

Cultural tailoring involves the use of sociobehavioral theories and systematic research to develop communication and messaging strategies that are most likely to achieve desired health outcomes among groups of people with shared characteristics and cultural identity. Group characteristics that can inform tailoring strategies include a wide range of demographic and psychographic factors such as beliefs, attitudes, values, norms, lifestyles, behavioral patterns, decision‐making styles and stages, racial or ethnic identification, religiosity, linguistic styles, fashion and musical preferences, and physical appearance, to name just a few. Effective tailoring requires rigorous and culturally sensitive formative research, both qualitative and quantitative, to understand factors that are relevant to members of an intended audience and predictive of the desired health outcomes. Participatory research approaches and co‐design with members of the audience increase the likelihood of success. While common social and behavioral science constructs like beliefs and norms are important to consider, it is the ability to specify which beliefs or norms are unique to an intended audience that makes tailoring effective. Research has documented successful tailoring across a wide range of health issues, including reduction in communicable and noncommunicable disease, prevention and mitigation of chronic illness, service utilization, and community and social support for healthy practices, as well as among many diverse types of ethno‐cultural audiences, nationalities, ages, and gender. Meta‐analyses indicate that tailored communication interventions generally produce effect sizes in the small to intermediate range but do provide added value and can increase the effectiveness of messaging and the magnitude of outcomes.
Transgender
Authors: Dasgupta Satarupa
Published: November 2022

The transgender community across the globe faces significant health disparities, has limited access to healthcare, and suffers from poorer quality of care. Deep‐seated stigma, discrimination, socioeconomic inequalities, and institutional inequities act as barriers in healthcare seeking. This entry focuses on delineating transgender health disparities in the developing nations especially in the Global South. Cultural contextualization of support services, sensitization of clinicians, and reform of medical education – to address and include transgender‐specific disparities – are significantly lacking in the Global South and across the globe. Research shows that the existing health disparities need to be addressed by empowering patients, increasing trust, and enhancing cultural competence.
Marriage and Family Therapy
Authors: King Mary E.
Published: November 2022

Marriage and family therapy (MFT) emerged in the 1940s and is focused on improving individuals' emotional well‐being and the state of the relationship. In MFT communication is a primary focus as interpersonal issues relating to individuals in relationships, families, and groups are meant to be resolved. The goal of a marriage and family therapist is to assess, diagnose, and treat mental illness and psychological distress within the context of marriage and family systems. As couples gain awareness of the process they use to communicate with each other, they gain a better understanding of their own unique interactive patterns, which opens up possibilities for them to change their unproductive communication patterns and ultimately improve their relationship.
Multimorbidities
Authors: Jansen Jesse , Giguere Anik , Pel‐Littel Ruth E. , van der Weijden Trudy
Published: November 2022

Multimorbidity is commonly defined as the presence of two or more chronic diseases in the same individual. Patients with multimorbidity are faced with many decisions about their health. This can be supported through shared decision making (SDM). SDM is the process of explaining to patients that a decision is to be made, describing the available options, each with potential benefits and harms, eliciting patient preferences, and collaboratively deciding on the best course of action. SDM is especially important in patients with multimorbidity because it can help ensure that health interventions address what matters most in the patient's life and personal circumstances. At the same time, multimorbidity complicates SDM. For example, a decision around treatment options for early‐stage breast cancer is more challenging if a patient has diabetes, let alone if the patient also suffers from depression. In this entry, we discuss the challenges and opportunities of SDM in patients with multimorbidity.
COVID‐19
Authors: Ma Zexin , Nan Xiaoli , van Weert Julia C. M. , Ou Mengxue , Ho Shirley S.
Published: November 2022

COVID‐19 is a highly contagious disease first identified in December 2019 and has caused a pandemic of respiratory illness. During a global public health crisis like this one, health communication serves an instrumental role in controlling the spread of the virus. This entry provides a brief overview of the public health communication practices in the midst of the pandemic. Specifically, we focus on public health messaging in relation to the nature of the disease and mitigation measures in North America, Asia, and Europe. We identify several communication challenges during the pandemic and offer recommendations for future communication.
Cochrane Reviews
Authors: Spijker René , Hooft Lotty
Published: November 2022

Cochrane reviews are high‐quality systematic reviews of research in healthcare and health policy. A systematic review attempts to identify, appraise, and synthesize all the empirical evidence that meets pre‐specified eligibility criteria to answer a given research question. Researchers conducting systematic reviews use explicit methods aimed at minimizing bias, in order to produce more reliable findings that can be used to inform decision making. The Cochrane Collaboration has been instrumental in the development and promotion of systematic review methodology and has produced over 7,000 reviews. In this entry the background of the Cochrane Collaboration, the key steps of a Cochrane review, and how Cochrane and Cochrane reviews came to have a role in health communication are discussed.
Adolescent/Young Adult
Authors: Hall Robert D.
Published: November 2022

This entry provides an overview of the unique, life‐stage experiences that adolescents, emerging adults (EAs), and young adults (YAs) face. Additionally, this entry describes how adolescents, EAs, and YAs manage and navigate changes regarding their communication and relationships regarding their health and well‐being through these life‐stage transitions. For future directions, researchers interested in studying adolescents, EAs, and YAs should consider these populations in terms of being “digital natives.” In this way, health communication researchers have an opportunity to inquire specifically about adolescent, EA, and YA management of identity and social support in online contexts.
Genetic Communication
Authors: Scherr Courtney L. , Campbell‐Salome Gemme , McQuaid Shelly W.
Published: November 2022

Genomics is the study of a person's genes including interactions across genes and a person's lifestyle and environment. In the context of lifespan, genetic testing can be used in family planning, for example, in carrier screening, prior to embryo implantation, and to identify rare but serious conditions in a fetus or during childhood. In adulthood, genetic testing can identify individuals with diseases (e.g., Huntington's, Alzheimer's) and those at risk for diseases, which can be caught early through proactive screening behaviors, or avoided through preventive medications and procedures (e.g., cancers, cardiovascular diseases). Postmortem, genetic testing can be used to make sense of and identify a family member's cause of death to determine if other family members may be at risk (e.g., sudden cardiac death). Before undergoing genetic testing, effective communication between patients and clinicians can facilitate informed decision making about the test. After testing, effective communication between patients and clinicians can support understanding and subsequent decision making related to the genetic test result. Genetics can be passed within families; therefore, if one family member pursues genetic testing, the results of that decision can affect the entire family in many cases. Thus, genetic testing has implications for communication across the lifespan.
Health Promotion Messages in Families
Authors: Villagran Melinda , Keeley Maureen P.
Published: November 2022

Family communication is essential to promote and reinforce positive health behaviors in the family unit. Health promotion programs that target families can leverage trusted relationships to communicate valuable information and teach skills that empower individual family members to enact relevant healthy behaviors. An increasing number of evidence‐based interventions target families to improve issues related to health and quality of life. Since families share many genetic, social, economic, and political conditions that create risk perceptions and habits, health communication can promote shared family concerns targeted through health promotion activities. Health promotion in families can benefit from the robust support systems rooted in interpersonal relationships and trust among family members. Future research is needed to design health promotion interventions that leverage family communication and relationships to bring about positive health behavior change. Research is also needed to better understand how the interplay among changing family structures, values, and norms affects efforts to promote health and safety from infancy to older adulthood. Traditional health promotion activities that were designed for members of dominant cultural group norms must also be reconsidered to develop more diverse and inclusive approaches that can be used to improve the health and wellness of all types of families.
Academic Organizations: NCA HC Division
Authors: Magsamen‐Conrad Kate
Published: November 2022

Health communication is an area of substantive inquiry represented by one of the 63 interest groups of the National Communication Association (NCA). NCA is the United States' largest society dedicated to the study and teaching of communication. Like all NCA interest groups, the Health Communication Division provides networking opportunities, annual convention programming, leadership opportunities, awards, and specialized information dissemination channels for its members. The NCA Health Communication Division shares the rich history of formation of subdiscipline and formation of an organized academic group with the Health Communication Division of the International Communication Association. The NCA Health Communication Division is one of the largest interest groups. It seeks active leaders and members who are passionate about health communication, and who will ensure the division cultivates an organization in which all members are valued, respected, enabled, and supported to achieve their professional goals in teaching, research, and service.
Health Literacy
Authors: Manganello Jennifer , Hadley Molly
Published: November 2022

Over the past two decades, health literacy has grown into an important topic area in multiple fields including medicine, education, and communication. There are various definitions of health literacy, but in general it typically includes ideas related to individuals being able to get and understand health information, navigate the healthcare system, and communicate about their healthcare needs. It also includes actions taken by clinicians and organizations to ensure that services and information are easier to navigate and understand. Many people around the world do not have adequate health literacy, and lower levels of health literacy have been associated with a range of negative health outcomes. Health literacy is closely tied to communication given its role in health information seeking, understanding of oral and written health information, use of health technology, communication during healthcare visits, and development of health‐related materials. Whether the focus is on ensuring individuals have the skills needed to navigate a complex health information system or creating information that is easy to read, health literacy has a place in all aspects of health communication. Researchers, clinicians, public health professionals, educators, communication scholars, and anyone working in the healthcare field can work together to continue developing health literacy work and ensuring that everyone has a chance to be health literate.
Ehealth and Technology for Older Patients
Authors: Eide Hilde , Eide Tom
Published: November 2022

eHealth and technology for older patients are expected to enhance healthcare services for older persons in the future. In a health communication perspective, what matters to the patient should be taken as the point of departure. Clinicians are also users of eHealth and technology as these tools should function to support their professional activities in order to provide the best possible healthcare to older persons. There are several challenges on the system and organizational level that need to be solved in order to have a sustainable digital‐supported healthcare system for older persons.
Volume staging for arteriovenous malformation SRS treatment using VMAT
Authors: Mendez Claudia , Gete Ermias
Published: November 2022

Volume staging involves dividing the target volume into smaller parts and treating each part separately. In this study, the feasibility of volume‐staged stereotactic radiosurgery (VS‐SRS) on a linear accelerator using volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) and a frameless patient positioning system is investigated. Ten patients, previously treated with hypofractionated stereotactic radiotherapy with arteriovenous malformation (AVM) sized from 1.6 to 4.0 cm in diameter, were selected. VS‐SRS plans were created with the VMAT technique on the Varian Eclipse treatment planning system (TPS) using the TrueBeam STx linear accelerator. For each patient, an AVM‐VMAT set was planned with the AVM as the target and a PTV‐VMAT set using the (PTV = AVM+1 mm) as the target. All targets were divided into two sub‐volumes. The TPS data from the AVM‐VMAT plans was compared to Gamma Knife (GK) VS‐SRS plan data available in the literature. The AVM‐VMAT and PTV‐VMAT plans were compared to investigate the effect of a 1 mm PTV margin on normal brain (NB) dose. End‐to‐end testing was performed using a GaFchromic EBT3 film and point‐dose measurements. Dosimetric effects of multiple setups were investigated through film‐to‐film comparisons. Median target dose coverage, NB V12Gy, and conformity index for the AVM‐VMAT plans were 97.5%, 17 cm3, and 0.8, respectively. PTV‐VMAT plans attained comparable target dose coverage, but the average NB V12Gy increased by 48.9% when compared to the AVM‐VMAT plans. Agreement of point‐dose measurements with TPS calculations was −0.6% when averaged over all patients. Gamma analysis passing rates were above 90% for all film‐to‐film comparisons (2%/1 mm criteria), and for the film to TPS comparison (5%/1 mm). This work suggests that VMAT is capable of producing VS‐SRS plans with similar dose falloff characteristics as GK plans. NB dose depends on PTV margin size, and two‐stage treatment setups do not appear to contribute additional uncertainty to treatment delivery.
Fabrication of PtIrPd Noble Metal Medium Entropy Alloy Thin Film by Atomic Layer Deposition
Authors: Zou Yiming , Jing Lin , Wang Leyan , Tan Hui Teng , Goei Ronn , Yong Sidney Kwong Roong , Ong Amanda Jiamin , Tan Kwan W. , Tok Alfred Iing Yoong
Published: November 2022

Noble metal medium entropy alloy (MEA) thin films have recently attracted enormous research interests recently because of their great potential in the catalytic application. However, conventional bottom‐up fabrication methods for MEA thin film such as magnetron sputtering face enormous challenges including precise control over film thickness and consumption of costly high‐purity noble metal targets. Herein, a facile and tunable approach is developed coupling sequential atomic layer deposition (ALD) of noble metal layers with electric Joule heating (EJH) alloying process to grow platinum‐iridium‐palladium (PtIrPd) MEA thin films. The PtIrPd MEA thin film with a thickness of ≈20 nm and an atomic ratio of 35:35:30 is successfully fabricated. The effect of EJH processing temperature on the film morphology and structure evolution is investigated. ALD provides flexibility in the metal deposition sequence with meticulous thickness control and atomic composition precision, while the ultrafast EJH ramping/cooling rates promote homogeneous alloying of MEA combinations inhibiting phase separation. Furthermore, the integrated method circumvents a major obstacle of finding a common ALD temperature window for different noble metal precursors as well as opens new pathways for the controllable synthesis of multicomponent metal alloy thin films with potential catalytic, magnetic, and optical properties.
Large‐Scale Ultra‐Robust MoS2 Patterns Directly Synthesized on Polymer Substrate for Flexible Sensing Electronics
Authors: Li Weiwei , Xu Manzhang , Gao Jiuwei , Zhang Xiaoshan , Huang He , Zhao Ruoqing , Zhu Xigang , Yang Yabao , Luo Lei , Chen Mengdi , Ji Hongjia , Zheng Lu , Wang Xuewen , Huang Wei
Published: November 2022

Synthesis of large‐area patterned MoS2 is considered the principle base for realizing high‐performance MoS2‐based flexible electronic devices. Patterning and transferring MoS2 films to target flexible substrates, however, require conventional multi‐step photolithography patterning and transferring process, despite tremendous progress in the facilitation of practical applications. Herein, an approach to directly synthesize large‐scale MoS2 patterns that combines inkjet printing and thermal annealing is reported. An optimal precursor ink is prepared that can deposit arbitrary patterns on polyimide films. By introducing a gas atmosphere of argon/hydrogen (Ar/H2), thermal treatment at 350 °C enables an in situ decomposition and crystallization in the patterned precursors and, consequently, results in the formation of MoS2. Without complicated processes, patterned MoS2 is obtained directly on polymer substrate, exhibiting superior mechanical flexibility and durability (≈2% variation in resistance over 10,000 bending cycles), as well as excellent chemical stability, which is attributed to the generated continuous and thin microstructures, as well as their strong adhesion with the substrate. As a step further, this approach is employed to manufacture various flexible sensing devices that are insensitive to body motions and moisture, including temperature sensors and biopotential sensing systems for real‐time, continuously monitoring skin temperature, electrocardiography, and electromyography signals.
Glucose‐Responsive Enzymatic Cascade Microreactors in Gas‐Shearing Microfluidics Microcapsules
Authors: Qu Qingli , Cheng Weixia , Zhang Xiaoli , Ravanbakhsh Hossein , Tang Guosheng , Zhou Aying , Pei Dong , Xiong Ranhua , Huang Chaobo
Published: November 2022

Enzymatic cascade reactions are essential for metabolic pathway and biological signal transduction in living cells. More and more attention has been paid to artificial microreactors, which mimic these efficient, methodical, and selective biological cascade catalytic systems in cells. Natural hydrogels such as alginate and chitosan are thought of as suitable materials for matching the chemical, physical, and mechanical properties with extracellular matrix. Inspired by the structures of eukaryotic cells, alginate/chitosan multicompartment microcapsules for enzymatic cascade reaction are developed using an oil‐free gas‐shearing method. Multiple enzymes as biocatalysts are encapsulated in the particles to resemble complex physiological reactions. Biocatalysts, including glucose oxidase and peroxidase in alginate Janus core as a model, sense the external hyperglycemic environment, resulting in insulin release following chitosan shell protonation. The microcapsules show an excellent recyclability, room‐temperature long‐term and anti‐proteolysis stability. The microreactor approach leads to the development of a multi‐enzymatic cascade reaction system and provides an ideal carbohydrate platform to further understand the biomimetic metabolic function of organelles and organs.
Boosting Photocatalytic N2 Fixation on N‐Defect g‐C3N4/WO3: the Synergistic Effects of Nitrogen Vacancy and Z‐Scheme Heterojunction
Authors: Shang Huan , Ye Xingyu , Jia Hongbao , Zhu Qiong , Zhang Dieqing , Wang Ding , Li Guisheng
Published: November 2022

Photocatalytic nitrogen fixation is a promising strategy for ammonia synthesis under mild conditions by using solar energy, but N2 activation remains a great challenge. Herein, we demonstrate that a Z‐scheme g‐C3N4/WO3 heterojunction possessing abundant nitrogen vacancies exhibits the highly enhanced activity for photocatalytic N2 fixation through efficient nitrogen molecular activation compared with pristine NVs‐g‐C3N4 and WO3 photocatalysts. The construction of the internal electric field induced by Z‐scheme NVs‐g‐C3N4/WO3 heterojunction allows a rapid charge carrier separation and simultaneously maintains the powerful redox ability of photogenerated charge carriers, defined by the covalent CO bond. Moreover, nitrogen vacancy plays a crucial role in the adsorption/activation of N2, which substantially facilitates the hydrogenation to generate NH3. According to experimental and theoretical investigations, photocatalytic N2 fixation on NVs‐g‐C3N4/WO3 composites is proposed to be energetically favorable in the alternating pathway. This study offers an alternative way for the design of efficient photocatalysts for photocatalytic N2 fixation.
Understanding and Improving Mechanical Stability in Electrodeposited Cu and Bi for Dynamic Windows Based on Reversible Metal Electrodeposition
Authors: McAndrews Gabriel R. , Yeang Andrew L. , Cai Yuchun , Barile Christopher J. , McGehee Michael D.
Published: November 2022

Dynamic windows based on reversible metal electrodeposition (RME) can electronically adjust light transmission from ≈70% to <0.1% to improve building aesthetics and energy efficiency by controlling light and heat flow. For RME devices using Cu and Bi, the windows reach “privacy state” (<0.1% transmission) when ≈180 nm of metal is electrodeposited on the transparent conducting electrode. When films with a plated atomic Cu–Bi ratio of ≈2:1 rest in the privacy state, sinusoidal cracks form across the entire film, and the metal delaminates in <1 day. This mechanical failure renders the window unusable as specks of metal are visually unattractive and reduce the dynamic range of the window. The Cu–Bi film is stress free upon deposition, but after 4 h of resting, 38 MPa of tensile stress develops. The tension in Cu–Bi and Cu films combined with the Cu(ClO4)2in the electrolyte results in severe, widespread fractures and delamination due to stress corrosion cracking. In contrast, electrodeposited Bi films have compressive stress, likely due to high self‐diffusion and insertion of atoms into grain boundaries while plating, which results in a Bi‐based dynamic window with crack‐free resting stability that exceeds 9 weeks.