Communicating Inequality in American Healthcare

Catalog description

This course applies a bifocal social justice-communication lens to the evolution of access and delivery of U.S. health care. The course will examine the communication inequities in American health care co-cultures, including: providers, patients, and insurers, as well as the impact of politics, economics, technology, etc. In addition, the dialectical tensions created by acute care/disease-focused vs. prevention/wellness-centric health care delivery models will be highlighted and examined. The evolving economic burdens of an aging population, uninsured Americans, immigration, expanding technology, provider specialization, and fewer health care gatekeepers on the health care system will also be evaluated.