New Report on Communicating Health Strategies

Posted by on August 2, 2002

NEW IOM REPORT ON COMMUNICATING HEALTH STRATEGIES

Assessing Health Communication Strategies for Diverse Populations (July 8) Communication interventions intended to affect health behavior are an important strategy for improving the health of the American people. However, effective communication is highly dependent upon the social and cultural experiences of individuals, families and communities. This report addresses the challenge of improving health communications in a racially and culturally diverse society. Although messages tailored to specific audiences can be effective, the report describes the difficulty and complexity of categorizing audiences. The recommends that the field of public health communication should be strengthened and become more science based and that research should be supported that assists communicators in their efforts to reach varied audiences.

This report is available to read and order online at
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10018.html