CO 381: Health Communication

People who face illness or who try to maintain or achieve good health experience a number of challenges, such as decisions about treatments, coping with large volumes of medical information, and responding to changes in their identities as a consequence of illness. Managing those challenges can be helped or hindered by communication with others (e.g. family, friends, and healthcare providers). Both theoretical and practical in nature, this course will help students understand the impact of communication in a health context. Among the topics that will be addressed are: health and identity, patient-practitioner communication, cultural perceptions of health, healthcare policies, health communication campaigns, and health images in the media.