Introduction to Health Communication. (3-0) 3 Credit Hours

Catalog description

Prerequisite: Enrollment as a Communication major or minor, or enrollment in Multidisciplinary Studies, Medical Humanities, or Public Health, or consent of the instructor. This course is a survey of the field of health communication. This course is designed to increase student familiarity and understanding of the many ways in which health and illness affect and is affected by communication, emphasizing the interplay between communication, culture, identity, and relationships. This course introduces multiple communication issues relevant to the ways in which individuals negotiate health and illness including: contested meanings of health; the social construction of health and illness; how individuals experience and enact health; the influence on health interactions of social systems, culture and identity, social media, and organizational culture. A variety of topics will be explored, including conceptualizations of health; historical and modern approaches to healthcare; provider-patient interaction; health campaigns; social support; media and health; theories of behavioral change; and more. Generally offered: Fall, Spring, Summer. Course Fees: LRLF $10.27; STLF $18.48; DL01 $75.