Health Communication Part II

One year later, Stan and Clarence revisit Health Communications with Mike Schommer.

Mike currently serves as the Communications Director for the Minnesota Department of Health. Before this role, he served as the Communications Director for Minnesota Department of Agriculture.

In this episode, Mike shares his abundance of communication knowledge in conversation with the Health Chatter Team.

Don't forget to check out Part 1 here: https://rss.com/podcasts/healthchatter/465924/

Join the conversation at healthchatterpodcast.com

Brought to you in support of Hue-MAN, who is Creating Healthy Communities through Innovative Partnerships. More about their work can be found at http://huemanpartnership.org/

Research

• What is health communication?

1. “Health communication is an area of study that examines how the use of different communication strategies can keep people informed about their health and influence their behavior so they can live healthier lives” (Tulane School of Public Health)
2. Types of health communication
1. Health education
2. Health advocacy
3. Risk communication
4. Crisis & outbreak communication 

• Why is health communication so challenging?

1. Health information and messages are often overly complex, making them hard to understand and use (U.S Department of Health and Human Services)
2. Prioritization of medical models/treatment over prevention/determinants of health
3. Communication suffers when no coordination between initiatives
4. Communication suffers during restructuring and reorganization
5. “Top 6 Challenges of Healthcare Industry”
1. Outdated technology
2. Mishandling of protected information
3. Staff vacancies 
4. Timely delivery of information
5. Communicating outbreaks, lockdowns, evacuation, missing patients, etc. to employees and stakeholders (i.e. critical communication)
6. Communication regarding dangerous situations like natural disasters, bomb threats, active shooters, etc. 

• In what areas do you think we failed the most at health communications?

1. Prioritizing health equity & cultural competence 
2. Accessibility 

• Health literacy 

• • What is it? 

1. Affects 9 out of 10 adults (CDC)
2. Two Definitions
1. Personal health literacy: the degree to which individuals have the ability to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others (CDC)
2. Organizational health literacy: the degree to which organizations equitably enable individuals to find, understand, and use information and services to inform health-related decisions and actions for themselves and others (CDC)
3. “Health literacy is a complex phenomenon that involves individuals, families, communities and systems. The concept of health literacy encompasses the materials, environments, and challenges specifically associated with disease prevention and health promotion” (National Institutes of Health)

• • How do we increase health literacy?

1. National Action Plan to Improve Health Literacy
1. Developed by U.S Department of Health and Human Services
2. Seeks to engage organizations, professionals, policymakers, communities, individuals, and families in a linked, multi-sector effort to improve health literacy
3. Blueprint for organizations, companies, etc. 
4. Based on the principles that (1) everyone has the right to health information that helps them make informed decisions and (2) health services should be delivered in ways that are understandable and beneficial to health, longevity, and quality of life
2. CDC’s Health Literacy Action Plan
1. Adapted from National Action Plan
2. CDC created a health literacy plan to improve how we develop and share health information and provide public health services to different audiences
3. Includes goals surrounding access to information, integrating communication and literacy into public health planning/funding/policies/research/evaluation, and incorporating accurate health and science information into all levels of education 

1. Resources
1. https://www.onsolve.com/blog/the-top-6-communication-challenges-of-the-healthcare-industry-and-how-to-overcome-them/
2. https://data.unaids.org/pub/presentation/2007/broad-challenges-in-health-communication_en.pdf
3. https://health.gov/healthypeople/objectives-and-data/browse-objectives/health-communication
4. https://publichealth.tulane.edu/blog/health-communication-effective-strategies/
5. https://www.cdc.gov/healthliteracy/planact/national.html
6. https://www.cdc.gov/healthliteracy/planact/cdcplan.html
7. https://www.cdc.gov/healthliteracy/learn/index.html
8. https://www.nih.gov/institutes-nih/nih-office-director/office-communications-public-liaison/clear-communication/health-literacy