How The International Encyclopedia of Health Communication Is Transforming Healthcare
Explore the ResearchImagine this: a doctor explains a diagnosis using complex medical terminology, leaving the patient confused and anxious. Meanwhile, a public health campaign launches with bold posters about preventing disease, but the message fails to resonate with the community. In both cases, the problem isn't the medicine or the intentions—it's the communication.
Health communication is the invisible bridge connecting medical knowledge to human understanding. It encompasses everything from intimate conversations between doctors and patients to global public health campaigns and digital health technologies.
As Professor Srividya Ramasubramanian of the Newhouse School reminds us, "As the global COVID-19 pandemic has taught us, it is not enough if there is excellent health-related scientific knowledge out there. It is as important, or even more important, to be able to communicate relevant health information in a culturally-inclusive manner to our communities." 1
This article explores the groundbreaking International Encyclopedia of Health Communication, a definitive 2023 reference work that brings together diverse global perspectives to advance how we communicate about health. With over 450 concise chapters, this comprehensive collection represents a significant leap forward in understanding how communication affects our health decisions, behaviors, and outcomes 1 .
Health communication is broadly defined as "the use of strategies to communicate information about health and to influence individuals and communities in health decision making" 5 . This field has evolved from two main roots: research in public health "education" beginning in the 1940s-1950s, and studies of physician-patient interactions that gained prominence in the 1960s 5 .
Evolved from public health education research in the 1940s-1950s and physician-patient interaction studies in the 1960s.
The pandemic highlighted critical communication challenges, creating an "infodemic" that eroded public trust.
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted both the critical importance and considerable challenges of effective health communication. The World Health Organization described the overwhelming flood of both accurate and misleading information as an "infodemic," which contributed to "pandemic fatigue, reinforcing the phenomena of information avoidance and a loss of trust in information sources" 7 . In this complex landscape, the International Encyclopedia of Health Communication serves as an essential guide for navigating modern health challenges.
The International Encyclopedia of Health Communication, published in 2023 by Wiley Blackwell in association with the International Communication Association, represents a massive collaborative achievement across the global academic community. Edited by Iccha Basnyat, Evelyn Ho, and Julia C. M. van Weert, this five-volume set contains diverse international authors addressing a wide array of subjects 1 .
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Chapters
Publication Year
Collaboration
What makes this encyclopedia particularly valuable is its practical interdisciplinary approach. As Professor Ramasubramanian notes, the encyclopedia "will be immensely beneficial to people from many different backgrounds such as communication, media studies, rhetoric, medicine, nursing, nutrition, healthcare administration, dentistry, kinesiology, and allied health fields" 1 . Unlike earlier references that primarily served academic researchers, this work bridges the gap between theory and practice across numerous healthcare domains.
The encyclopedia covers "a broad range of topics such as health literacy, patient-provider interactions, healthcare systems, mental health, sexual health, and disabilities" 1 , with additional attention to emerging areas like health technologies, vaccination hesitancy, crisis communications, and the role of artificial intelligence in healthcare.
The field of health communication draws from several foundational theories that help explain and predict health behaviors. The International Encyclopedia of Health Communication synthesizes these frameworks, three of which stand out for their enduring relevance:
This model helps predict the likelihood that an individual will adopt a health-related behavior based on their perception of susceptibility to an illness and their beliefs about the effectiveness of treatments 5 . Essentially, if people believe they're vulnerable to a health threat and that preventive actions will work, they're more likely to take those actions.
This theory places an individual's intention to enact a behavior as the key factor in predicting whether they will actually carry it out 5 . The theory recognizes that people will "act on their intentions when they have the necessary skills for performing the behavior" 5 , highlighting the importance of making health behaviors not just desirable but achievable.
This approach suggests that learning health behaviors isn't purely internal but occurs through social observation 5 . By watching others perform behaviors—whether in person or through media—and recalling these observations, individuals guide their own future health decisions.
A particularly innovative aspect of the encyclopedia is its emphasis on non-Western systems of medicine and culturally-inclusive approaches. Professor Ramasubramanian's chapter on mindfulness and meditation, for instance, explores "the mind-body complex and the importance of incorporating ancient wisdom from yoga and meditation into contemporary healthcare" 1 .
Similarly, her chapter on trauma-informed healthcare (co-authored with Emily Riewestahl) advocates for "healthcare providers to be flexible and culturally-inclusive in their approaches to care" and emphasizes "the importance of creating spaces for patients to share their voice, stories, and cultural practices in affirming ways" 1 .
This represents a significant evolution from earlier references like the 2014 SAGE Encyclopedia of Health Communication, which, while comprehensive, didn't centrally feature these diverse perspectives 2 3 .
To understand how health communication researchers test their theories, let's examine a hypothetical but methodologically sound experiment inspired by the Encyclopedia's principles. Suppose we want to investigate how different communication strategies affect patient recovery after surgery. We might design a study that examines both medicinal and communication-based interventions.
| Experiment | Factor A: Medicine Dose | Factor B: Health Coaching Sessions | Factor C: Digital Health Reminders |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (Control) | None | None | None |
| 2 | 10 mg | None | None |
| 3 | None | Bi-weekly | None |
| 4 | None | None | Daily |
| 5 | 10 mg | Bi-weekly | None |
| 6 | 10 mg | None | Daily |
| 7 | None | Bi-weekly | Daily |
| 8 | 10 mg | Bi-weekly | Daily |
This experimental design allows researchers to study not only each factor individually but also how they might interact to enhance or diminish each other's effects—a more efficient approach than traditional one-factor-at-a-time experimentation 6 .
The researchers would recruit participants recovering from similar surgical procedures and randomly assign them to one of the eight experimental conditions. The study would proceed with these key steps:
| Condition | Average Recovery Score | Adherence Rate (%) | Patient Satisfaction |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (Control) | 4.2 | 45% | 3.8 |
| 2 (Medication Only) | 5.7 | 62% | 5.2 |
| 3 (Coaching Only) | 6.1 | 78% | 7.4 |
| 4 (Reminders Only) | 5.9 | 81% | 6.8 |
| 5 (Med + Coaching) | 7.5 | 85% | 8.2 |
| 6 (Med + Reminders) | 7.1 | 88% | 7.9 |
| 7 (Coaching + Reminders) | 8.3 | 92% | 8.7 |
| 8 (All Three) | 8.9 | 95% | 9.1 |
The results demonstrate that while each individual intervention improves outcomes compared to the control condition, the combination of all three interventions produces the best results across all measures. Interestingly, the pairing of health coaching with digital reminders (Condition 7) proves almost as effective as the full combination, suggesting that communication-based interventions may be particularly powerful in supporting recovery.
This experiment illustrates a crucial finding in health communication research: comprehensive, multi-channel communication strategies typically outperform single-approach interventions. The synergy between different forms of communication creates an effect greater than the sum of its parts.
Modern health communication research relies on both conceptual frameworks and methodological tools. The International Encyclopedia of Health Communication helps organize these resources into a coherent toolkit for researchers and practitioners.
| Research Component | Function & Purpose | Examples from the Encyclopedia |
|---|---|---|
| Theoretical Frameworks | Provide foundation for understanding health behaviors | Health Belief Model, Theory of Planned Behavior, Social Cognitive Theory 5 |
| Research Methodologies | Enable systematic study of health communication phenomena | Experimental designs, surveys, interviews, content analysis 6 |
| Cultural Competence | Ensure communication respects diverse backgrounds and traditions | Trauma-informed approaches, mindfulness/meditation chapters 1 |
| Digital Tools | Facilitate modern health communication delivery | Chatbots and mental health, digital health reminders 1 |
| Interdisciplinary Bridges | Connect communication with relevant health specialties | Chapters spanning medicine, nursing, nutrition, public health 1 |
This toolkit represents a significant evolution from earlier approaches to health communication research. As noted in a podcast on expanding health communication research, researchers increasingly recognize the need to move beyond traditional methodological silos: "All research paradigms have constraints and affordances. They all have tools that are very good at doing the tasks for which they were designed" 4 . The encyclopedia facilitates this expanded approach by incorporating diverse methodologies and perspectives.
The International Encyclopedia of Health Communication arrives at a pivotal moment in healthcare. As societies grow more diverse and health challenges more complex, the need for effective, culturally-sensitive communication has never been greater. This comprehensive reference work not only captures the current state of health communication scholarship but also points toward its future—one that embraces diverse cultural perspectives, harnesses digital innovation, and prioritizes patient-centered care.
The encyclopedia reminds us that health communication isn't merely about transmitting information—it's about building understanding, fostering trust, and empowering individuals and communities to make informed health decisions.
As Professor Ramasubramanian observes, the encyclopedia covers topics "that are often neglected within Western-centric health communication" 1 , signaling an important shift toward more inclusive and effective healthcare conversations.
In the end, the International Encyclopedia of Health Communication represents more than just a collection of articles—it embodies the evolving understanding that how we communicate about health is just as important as the medical knowledge itself. As we face future health challenges, from pandemic preparedness to managing chronic diseases, this resource will serve as an essential guide for creating a healthier, better-informed world.