Jim's Health Comm Course
Just What is it? And I am "healthy" now, so why take it?
******CMUN 296, 1-2:15pm TTH, SPRING******
Course Rationale:
Health is a multidimensional process with at least four primary dimensions: physiological, symbolic, social, and spiritual. This course addresses the interface among the dimensions by examining literature and learning materials from communication, health, psychology, social work, medical sociology, and nursing. As the research will indicate, effective and timely communication plays an integral role in health status, maintenance, and health promotion efforts.
This course is further mandated since non-controllable risk factors leading to diseases such as cholera, TB, etc., have been replaced by health threats resulting from poor lifestyle practices. As Knowles (1977) argues, 99 percent of current health maladies are due to lifestyle, health threatening behaviors. In a similar manner, the Surgeon General's Report (1979) suggests that at least 75 percent of illness is lifestyle-related. More recent support is provided by Mechanic (1983) and DeHart (1993). Since these life-style practices are not subject to traditional medical intervention, an impetus is provided for interdisciplinary research which identifies strategies to encourage individuals to become more responsible for their well-being.
This course is also justified because the meanings which individuals assign to their conditions influence health status, assertiveness, and compliance with sound health care regimens. In addition to the physiological stress of a particular illness, individuals often face symbolic crises which can impair their information processing abilities in terms of message creation, interpretation, and exchange. One viable strategy to lessen the intensity of these crises is the development, application, and refinement of a broad knowledge base among key publics. Subse quently, this course is designed to help you explore, understand, and appreciate pressing health communication issues across a variety of situations.
Wanna find out more about...
* communicating with physicians and other health care providers??
* communicating among support groups??
* communicating with the terminally ill??
* communicating more effectively across health care contexts??
Then, this course is for you...
More to Follow....
Course Rationale:
Health is a multidimensional process with at least four primary dimensions: physiological, symbolic, social, and spiritual. This course addresses the interface among the dimensions by examining literature and learning materials from communication, health, psychology, social work, medical sociology, and nursing. As the research will indicate, effective and timely communication plays an integral role in health status, maintenance, and health promotion efforts.
This course is further mandated since non-controllable risk factors leading to diseases such as cholera, TB, etc., have been replaced by health threats resulting from poor lifestyle practices. As Knowles (1977) argues, 99 percent of current health maladies are due to lifestyle, health threatening behaviors. In a similar manner, the Surgeon General's Report (1979) suggests that at least 75 percent of illness is lifestyle-related. More recent support is provided by Mechanic (1983) and DeHart (1993). Since these life-style practices are not subject to traditional medical intervention, an impetus is provided for interdisciplinary research which identifies strategies to encourage individuals to become more responsible for their well-being.
This course is also justified because the meanings which individuals assign to their conditions influence health status, assertiveness, and compliance with sound health care regimens. In addition to the physiological stress of a particular illness, individuals often face symbolic crises which can impair their information processing abilities in terms of message creation, interpretation, and exchange. One viable strategy to lessen the intensity of these crises is the development, application, and refinement of a broad knowledge base among key publics. Subse quently, this course is designed to help you explore, understand, and appreciate pressing health communication issues across a variety of situations.
Wanna find out more about...
* communicating with physicians and other health care providers??
* communicating among support groups??
* communicating with the terminally ill??
* communicating more effectively across health care contexts??
Then, this course is for you...
More to Follow....
