Communication in Health Care Contexts

Catalog description

Credits 3. 3 Lecture Hours. COURSE OVERVIEW. Examines how communication functions across health care settings, including interpersonal interactions, organizational systems and/or public messaging. Explores approaches to patient-provider dialogue, teamwork and/or institutional communication, alongside principles used in health campaigns and information dissemination. Addresses how communication practices influence access, understanding, decision-making and/or coordination. Course material may involve discussion of sensitive health topics, addressed for purposes of critical analysis. RELEVANCE AND APPLICATION. Engages communication practices applicable to professional effectiveness in clinical, nonprofit, corporate and public-facing health roles. Develops analytical tools for evaluating message strategies, assessing interactional dynamics and interpreting communication within institutional structures. Supports preparation for advanced study in fields related to health, communication or organizational practice, as well as for participation in public discourse surrounding health issues. DEEPENING UNDERSTANDINGS. Considers how communication in health care involves more than information delivery, incorporating factors such as context, perception, institutional procedures and interpersonal dynamics. Informs understanding of how misunderstandings emerge and ways different approaches to communication may facilitate or impede clarity, coordination and trust. Considers communication as a process with measurable effects. TOPICS AND THEMES. May include study of physician-patient interaction; health literacy and information accessibility; teamwork and coordination in clinical settings; communication breakdowns and system-level challenges; message design and campaign strategy; risk communication; digital health platforms and telemedicine; confidentiality, regulation and public messaging. Course material may reference real-world health controversies or policy debates as useful for understanding communication processes. Prerequisites: Junior or senior classification.