Roxanne Parrott - Böcker

The Oxford Encyclopedia of Health and Risk Message Design and Processing has been compiled as an up-to-date and comprehensive theoretically guided work in health and risk communication. Research and practice dedicated to communicating about health and risk to lay audiences grows exponentially with the availability of scientific knowledge on the subject. This work seeks to ensure that what is communicated is not only scientifically accurate but also avoids any partial information or overemphasis of particular features that result in beliefs or actions that may result in personal or societal harms. With the body of knowledge associated with health and risk communication collected in a credible and accessible resource, such outcomes appear to be less likely to occur is a collaboration of the leading scholars in the field. Comprising 134 extensive articles, The Oxford Encyclopedia of Health and Risk Message Design and Processing examines, among others:- message exposure and reach- message recipient sociodemographics- normative and integrated approaches- cognitive- and affect-based motivational processes- social determinants of health and riskMore than 150 scholars from around the globe examined the overarching topic from the lens of multiple disciplines and eras of thought. The perspectives represented range from disciplinary to interdisciplinary to transdisciplinary in illuminating decades of knowledge. Authors do not shy away from critiques of past strategic message design efforts in explaining the roles of individual characteristics linked to outcomes. Nor do contributors avoid controversial discussions related to the substantial evidence that demonstrates roles for personal relationships, social networks, and societal practices and policies on individual decision-making aligned with health and risk. Novel insights emerge from systematic case studies used to illustrate some of these principles in practice, while gaps in existing research generate recommendations for future programs of study and practice.

A primary premise of this special issue is that religious faith and spirituality comprise an integral component of lay discourse and lay theories associated with health. The articles included in this collection begin to fill a void and--at the same time--illustrate a role health communication fulfills within the behavioral sciences, emphasizing how everyday people make sense of health conditions in their daily living. Following the introduction, the next paper provides an integrated synthesis of the ways and means that religious faith and spirituality have been assessed, primarily through use of quantitative measures. The next two articles utilize instruments discussed in the previous review. The remaining papers utilize qualitative methods to begin to address the absence of specific understanding regarding religious faith and health communication, answering the challenge to health communicators to enrich the field through greater use of such methodological approaches to inquiry.

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 21st century, and how it affects us all. Organized around six key questions about health and communication:  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? and What’s Politics Got to Do with It?Provides readers with specific tools which which to better navigate the healthcare systemTranslates what we know about communication and health into useful guidelines for everyday practiceIncludes discussions of politics and healthcare, genetic testing, and alternative careThe author's blog http://whyhealthcommunication.com/whc_blog/ focuses on why communicating about health can make a difference in our health and our quality of life