Ivy O'Neil – författare

Health communication is key to promoting good population and individual health outcomes. As the field has developed, there is a growing need for a critical appraisal of the ideologies and theories underpinning health communication in order to ensure effective practice. This book clearly situates health communication within its social context. It provides a critical overview of three key disciplinary areas – education, psychology and communication. Drawing on international examples throughout, the book challenges the underlying assumptions that drive the design and delivery of health promotion interventions. The authors argue that health communication is inherently political and pay close attention to issues of power, ethics and inequality throughout the text.This book will be valuable for those students at all levels who require a critical perspective, as well as practitioners in health communication and health promotion. With reference to detailed examples and annotated suggestions for further reading, the book is an accessible resource for analysing contemporary health communication.

Searching the internet for health information or using health apps on mobile devices has become part of our daily routine, yet can be just as disempowering as empowering. This engaging overview critically examines the theoretical underpinning of digital health promotion and the use of digital tools and strategies to promote health.

Ivy O’Neil investigates how modern technologies can enhance health services provision and increase the accessibility and efficiency of health communication and promotion. She also looks at the challenges they bring to the social model of health, as they often focus on the individual and neglect the many social, environmental and economic determinants of health. Digital technologies, O’Neil argues, can have negative as well as positive implications and may be contributing to the ever-widening health inequality gap, thereby failing to be compatible with health promotion principles and values.

Offering a critical, practical and thoughtful overview of the application and usefulness of digital technology, this book will appeal to students of public health and health promotion, communication and policy.