Talking about Health: Why Communication Matters

Whether in the news, from our doctors, in our families, or through entertainment or commercial outlets, communicating about health can be harnessed in ways to benefit our choices, our decisions, and our physical and mental well–being. Written by an award–winning researcher and professor whose work straddles the fields of communication and healthcare, Talking about Health explores the importance of health communication in the twenty–first century, and how it affects us all.

Immensely readable and accessible, the book is organized around six questions relating to why and how we communicate about health:

How normal am I? What are my risk factors? Why don t we get care ? Is the public good good for me? Who profits from my health? What s politics got to do with it?

For more talk about health, and to chat with the author and others about the book, please visit whyhealthcommunication.com.

Preface.

1. Why Communicating about Health Matters.
It Answers the Question, "Who Am I?"
It Answers the Question, "Who s Responsible?"
It Opens the Gate for "Resources"
It Promotes (Mis)Understanding
It Guides Effort, Emotion, and Excuse
Summing It Up

2. How "Normal" Am I?
Compared to the Numbers
Compared to the Stories
When It Comes to Poor Health
When Choosing Alternative Treatments
When We Don t Want to Know
Summing It Up

3. What Are My "Risk" Factors?
Our Response to Reward Cues
Our Response to Punishment Cues
How We View Novelty
When We Procrastinate
What God Has to Do with It
Summing It Up

4. Why Don t We Get "Care"?
Our Doctors Didn t Recommend It
Family or Friends Don t Support It
We Use Support Networks
We re Managing Impressions
We re too Optimistic or Fatalistic
Summing It Up

5. Is the "Public Good" Good for Me?
When We Have to "Tell"
When Our Freedoms Are Limited
When Safety Clashes with (E)Quality
What Nonprofits Have to Do with It
Why Public Health Matters
Summing It Up

6. Who Profits from My Health?
Pharma–, Cosme–, and Nutri–ceuticals
The News, It Is an Industry
The Entertainment Industry
Band–Aids, Crutches and More Oh My!
Who Benefits from Our Health Illiteracy?
Summing It Up

7. What s Politics Got to Do with It?
Medical Research and Disparities
Political Agenda–setting and Priorities
Religious Agendas and Priorities
Medical Associations and Lobbyists
Patient Advocacy
Summing It Up

8. An Agenda for the Twenty–first Century: Increase Informed Choice and Consent, or "If I Ran the Circus "
Make "Personalized Medicine" Personal
Be Timely in the Telling
Fill in the Blanks
Track Your Health Report ( and Your Credit Report, Too)
Stay Out of "The Big Muddy"
Summing It Up
A Final Thought

References.

Index.

Roxanne Parrott is Distinguished Professor at Pennsylvania State University, holding joint appointments in the Communication Arts & Sciences and the Health Policy & Administration departments. She is also a faculty member in the College of Medicine, for the Homeland Security Program.

"The book is an engaging, informative read that packages health communication issues in a unique and usable way. Personal, informative, comprehensive, and integrated." (Taylor Francis Online, 19 January 2011)

"This book has the added bonus of educating people about palliative care, including how to develop an advanced directive, the way to maintain a "health report," and how to manage one′s health profile. It offers multiple references for each chapter that would be helpful to readers wanting more detailed information. Additionally, it could also assist health care professionals who want to increase their communication skills." (CHOICE, December 2009)"Parrot melds her expertise in communications and health policy and administration .Accessible and full of Parrot family anecdotes." (The Penn Stater, January 2010)

"Roxanne Parrott s thoughtful treatment of ′why communication matters′ identifies challenges and opportunities in ′talking about health′ during this time of increasing consumer engagement and responsibility in health and health care." (PsycCRITIQUES, November 2009)