New Reference Titles

Here are some decent new reference works in the field from three different publishers.

Encyclopedia of Health Communication, editor-in-chief Teresa L. Thompson (Sage, 2014). A three-volume work of nearly 600 articles including such topics as theories and research traditions, evaluation and assessment, cultural complexities, high risk and special populations, message design and campaigns, provider/patient interaction issues; media issues, and more. Besides the extensive index, the Appendices include a Resource Guide to key books, journals and websites pertinent to health communication.

Global Handbooks in Media and Communication Research

Wiley-Blackwell has an excellent series of handbooks in global communication. You can check out  intro matter and Table of contents for these works at Wiley Online Library (General Communication & Media Studies). (You will probably want to browse here for other online communication titles besides these, some available in full text.) At this date, the four handbooks below are at the Annenberg Library and not accessible online. 

The Handbook of Political Economy of Communications, edited by Janet Wasko, Graham Murdock, and Helena Sousa (Wiley-Blackwell, 2014).

 

The Handbook of Media Audiences, edited by Virginia Nightingale
(Wiley-Blackwell, 2014).

The Handbook of Development Communication and Social Change, edited by Karin Gwinn Wilkins, Thomas Tufte, and Rafael Obregon
(Wiley-Blackwell, 2014).

  

The Handbook of Global Media and Communication Policy, edited by Robin Mansell and Marc Raboy (Wiley-Blackwell, 2014).

The Routledge Handbook of Mobilities, edited by Peter Adey, David Bissell, Kevin Hannam, Peter Merriman, and Mim Sheller (Routledge, 2014).
"Illustrates disciplinary trends and pathways, from migration studies and transport history to communications research, featuring methodological innovations and developments and conceptual histories - from feminist theory to tourist studies. It explores the dominant figures of mobility, from children to soldiers and the mobility impaired; the disparate materialities of mobility such as flows of water and waste to the vectors of viruses; key infrastructures such as logistics systems to the informal services of megacity slums, and the important mobility events around which our world turns; from going on vacation to the commute, to the catastrophic disruption of mobility systems."

Introducing Sociometrics

Sociometrics, newly added to the Penn Library e-resources, offers access to social-behavioral health science data, including social science health data sets, psychological tests, effective evidence-based prevention and treatment programs and multimedia health education resources.  Modules include:

Children's Emotional Disorders Effective Treatment Archive

Early Intervention Program Archive to Reduce Developmental Disability

Global HIV Archive

HIV RAP Interactive

HIV/AIDS Prevention Program Archive

Know the Risks: HIV Screening & Education

Know the Risks: Sexual Health Over 50

Program Archive on Sexuality, Health, & Adolescence

PsyTestAR: Psychological Test and Assessment Resource

SAHARA: HIV Prevention for African American Young Women

SiHLE: HIV Prevention for African American Teen Women

WILLOW: Secondary Prevention for African-American Women living with HIV

This resource is bought to us by the Sociometrics Corporation which you may already know from The Social Science Electronic Data Library (SSEDL) that provides a collection of robust data archives with more than 600 premier data sets and over 275,000 variables. You can access this collection at the Sociometrics site in addition to accessing it from the Library webpage by SEEDL.

Pew's Social Media Update 2013

The Pew Internet and American Life Project closed out the year with an 18 page report updating past social media trackings, Social Media Update 2013.

Abstract

Some 73% of online adults now use a social networking site of some kind. Facebook is the dominant social networking platform in the number of users, but a striking number of users are now diversifying onto other platforms. Some 42% of online adults now use multiple social networking sites. In addition, Instagram users are nearly as likely as Facebook users to check in to the site on a daily basis. These are among the key findings on social networking site usage and adoption from a new survey from the Pew Research Center’s Internet Project.

We'll be hearing more from this project later in the month from of an upcoming conference in Washington DC on social media and health communication. 

Reducing Health Disparities in JOC

Communication Strategies to Reduce Health Disparities is the title of the Journal of Communication's special issue (February 2013, Volume 63:1). Edited by Nancy Grant Harrington (University of Kentucky), many of the journal's ten articles grew out of two preconferences in 2012, one at the International Communication Association, the other at the Kentucky Conference on Health Communication. The lead piece deals with the current state of knowledge on the content and effects of communication about health disparities in the mass media.  Other articles address intervention research, narrative practices, community-based eHealth strategies, and communication infrastructure theory in relation to reducing health disparities. The issue's case studies focus on HIV, the HPV vaccine, and hunger, a major if not the major marker of health disparity. The geography of this research ranges from Appalachia  and Tippecanoe Country, Indiana to West Bengal, India with Africa in between.

The journal is available from Penn Library e-resources.

Health and Poli-Comm Reference Books

Two solid reference volumes from Routledge published this year are The Routledge Handbook of Health Communication and Sourcebook for Political Communication Research: Methods Measures, and Analytical Techniques.

The Handbook (edited by Teresa L Thompson, Roxanne Parrott, and Jon F. Nussbaurm, 2001) is in its second edition but revamped to "emphasize work in such areas as barriers to disclosure in family conversations and medical interactions, access to popular media and advertising, and individual searches online for information and support to guide decisions and behaviors with health consequences." You can also find overviews on methods.

The Sourcebook, (edited by Erik P. Brucy and R. Lance Holbert, 2011) is a benchmark resource covering "the major analytical techniques used in political communication research, including surveys, experiments, content analysis, discourse analysis (focus groups and textual analysis), network and deliberation analysis, comparative study designs, statistical analysis, and measurement issues. It also includes such innovations as the use of advanced statistical techniques, and addresses digital media as a means through which to disseminate as well as study political communication."

Both volumes are available in the Annenberg Library Reference (just ask if you want to take them home) at JA 86 s68 2011 (Sourcebook) and R 118 H26 2011 (Handbook).

International Encyclopedia of Public Health

From the Penn Libraries New & Noteworthy:

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International Encyclopedia of Public Health, a new reference work from ScienceDirect, is now available to Penn readers through the Penn Library Web. IEPH presents lengthy articles, with recommendations on further reading, on:

• Diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, emerging and reemerging diseases, diet and obesity, infectious diseases, malnutrition and poverty, neurological disorders, reproductive health, and tobacco, alcohol, and drugs.
• Health processes, including aging, at-risk populations, child health, health systems, violence, and policy.
• Disciplinary contributions to public health, such as anthropology and sociology, economics and finance, occupational health, legal issues, and measurement and modeling.

IEPH is intended to be an "international" reference work: a concerted effort was made to draw examples from different countries and regions and to discuss health systems of countries worldwide. Contributing authors came from 39 countries.

The print version of International Encyclopedia of Public Health (6 volumes, Academic Press, 2008) is available to Penn readers in the Van Pelt Library Reference collection, call number RA423 .I58 2008

Special 100th Issue of Health Communication

A special double issue of Health Communication celebrates its 100th issue (Volume 25, Issue 6-7, September 2010). It's chock full of reflective articles on the state of the health communication field, looking back and into the future. The issue is available online from the ASC homepage. Articles include:

• Accomplishing the Goals of Health Communication Research: Predictions, Accomplishments, and Continued Efforts
• Commentary on “Mapping Health Communication Scholarship: Breadth, Depth, and Agenda of Published Research in Health Communication”: Implications for Reaching Practitioners With Communication Research
• What Is Normative in Health Communication Research on Norms? A Review and Recommendations for Future Scholarship
• The Emerging Landscape of Health Communication in Asia: Theoretical Contributions, Methodological Questions, and Applied Collaborations
• On the Need for a Life-Span Approach to Health Campaign Evaluation
• Media Research Contributes to the Battle Against Childhood Obesity

Other highlights in the issue include a tribute piece to our own Martin Fishbein, who passed away almost a year ago, by Marco Yzer:

• The Impact of the Work of Martin Fishbein on Health Issues in the World

and:

A Journal-Level Analysis of Health Communication

Authors: Thomas Hugh Feeley; Rachel A. Smith; Shin-Il Moon; Ashley E. Anker

Abstract

Citation data from 2006 through 2008 were used to examine the journal citation network of Health Communication in comparison to 26 related journals indexed by Journal Citation Reports, a database published by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) Web of Knowledge. A recently advanced journal relatedness factor based on out-degree (i.e., cited journals) and in-degree (i.e., citing journals) citations was used to determine the network of peer journals. Results indicate Health Communication serves to link communication and health-related journals. Data were also reported on journal impact and 5-year journal impact factors. When compared to ISI-indexed communication journals, Health Communication is consistently ranked in the top 25% across impact factors and citations to the journal are consistent over the 7 years of analysis from 2002 through 2008. Methods of increasing the impact of Health Communication among journals in social sciences are discussed.

New e-Journals in Communication

Penn is a subscriber of three new ICI Global journals in the field. They are:

	International Journal of E-Health and Medical Communications (IJEHMC)
	International Journal of E-Politics (IJEP)
	International Journal of Virtual Communities and Social Networking (IJVCSN)

In additional, from MIT we now subscribe to:

The International Journal of Learning and Media (IJLM) is a ground breaking online-only journal devoted to the examination of the changing relationships between learning and media across a wide range of forms and settings. While retaining the rigorous peer review process of a traditional academic journal, IJLM will also provide opportunities for more topical and polemical writing, for visual and multi-media presentations, and for online dialogues.

These titles are all available from the ASC Library homepage.

Booknotes: Remembering Dr. Fishbein

The Annenberg community is deeply saddened by the passing of Martin Fishbein, the Harry C. Coles, Jr. Distinguished Professor of Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication.

Dr. Fishbein is best known for his landmark theories in the field of social psychology, namely the expectancy-value theory which he developed in the early 1970s, and later, the theory of reasoned-action. The concepts of the former theory can be found in the monograph, Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research (1975), which he co-authored with Icek Ajzen. It is out of print but can be found at Dr. Ajzen's website in its entirety (broken up into chapters).

Later, in the 1970's and early 80's, EVT was expanded into the theory of reasoned action (TRA), credited to Drs. Fishbein and Ajzen. Their work could not be more contemporary however, as the the two had just published Predicting and changing behavior: The reasoned action approach (2010, Psychology Press,Taylor & Francis). Copies of the book can be found in Van Pelt and ASC Reserve.

These 1975 and 2010 titles bookend a prolific and astonishingly influential career that nourished the diverse fields of health communication, marketing, child psychology, consumer psychology, organizational communication and audience studies. Dr. Fishbein will be sorely missed around the School and University, but his work is here to stay.

Media/Materials Clearinghouse (M/MC)

The Media/Materials Clearinghouse (M/MC) is a repository for health communication materials from around the world--pamphlets, posters, audiotapes, videos, training materials, job aids, electronic media and other media/materials designed to promote public health. One can search its HEALTH COMMUNICATION MATERIALS DATABASE by country (128 I counted), subjects (such as AIDS, bed nets, blood pressure, chlamydia, dental heath, infant mortality, malaria, traffic safety--too many to count), and medium (from comic books to radio spots to wallet cards). There are over 150 languages to choose from as well.

Besides the database, the site also hosts a Health Communications Materials Network where communication specialists share ideas and information on public health communication.

An "In the Spotlight" features a new health campaign every month. This month's feature is a radio soap opera on body love:

BodyLove is the soap opera that is good for you. Developed by faculty and students at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, BodyLove is a radio drama that reaches African American listeners with messages to promote healthy lifestyles. The program uses the technique of modeling healthy and unhealthy behaviors and their consequences. To date, 83 episodeshave been produced and broadcast on radio stations in Alabama, Georgia, Florida and Mississippi. They can also be streamed on-demand from three stations in Birmingham, Alabama. Please visit www.bodylove.org for more information.

Medical Blogosphere Article in Searcher

The May 2009 issue of Searcher contains a useful article on medical blogging, The Medical Blogosphere: How Social Networking Platforms Are Changing Medical Searching. The author, Stephanie Ardito, examines how social networking is impacting the way the media monitors medical news and evaluates how this change is affecting searching methods and search results. The article is not freely available online, but is available in the ASC Library. What is available without a subscription is the bibliography and useful list of links mentioned in the article, including several top medical blog ranking lists.

These URLs appear in the article: THE MEDICAL BLOGOSPHERE: HOW SOCIAL NETWORKING PLATFORMS ARE CHANGING MEDICAL SEARCHING by Stephanie C. Ardito Ardito Information & Research, Inc. Searcher, the Magazine for Database Professionals Vol. 17, No. 5 • May 2009

http://blogs.wsj.com/health/ http://www.pharmalot.com/ http://www.diabetesmine.com/ http://sayingnotovaccines.blogspot.com/ http://www.patientslikeme.com/ http://www.technorati.com/blogging/state-of-the-blogosphere/ http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=937 http://sethgodin.typepad.com/ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/theblog/ http://www.rosie.com/blog/ http://www.myspace.com/parishilton http://www.nytimes.whsites.net/mediakit/online/ audience/audience_profile.php Further Reading http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/ 08_50/b4112058194219.htm http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/news-and-features/ packaged-goods/e3ideada6994c7b92e7f67e8f8804394a08 http://www.icrossing.com/articles/How%20America%20Searches %20-%20Health%20and%20Wellness.pdf http://www.envisionsolutionsnow.com/pdf/Studies/ Health_Blogosphere_Final_sm_doc.pdf http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Health_Aug08.pdf http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=937 http://www.jmir.org/2008/3/e28/ http://www.pharmalot.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/medical-blogs.pdf http://cms.carepages.com/export/sites/default/CarePages/en/ Press/white_papers/online_health_care_gets_personal.pdf http://www.manhattanresearch.com/files/White_Papers/ Catch_the_New_Pharmaceutical_Marketing_Wave.pdf http://www.manhattanresearch.com/newsroom/Press_Releases/ over-60-million-health-20-consumers.aspx http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/ top-us-newspaper-sites-see-more-visitors-shorter-stays http://www.pharmalive.com/magazines/ medad/view.cfm?articleID=3686# http://www.chcf.org/documents/chronicdisease/ HealthCareSocialMedia.pdf http://www.pbs.org/idealab/2008/07/ should-doctors-blog-can-blogge.html http://www.pharmalot.com/2008/07/ doctor-blogs-reveal-patient-info-endorse-products/ http://www.technorati.com/blogging/state-of-the-blogosphere/ Blog Rankings http://northxeast.com/blogging/nxes-fifty-most-influential-bloggers/ http://edrugsearch.com/edsblog/healthcare100/index.php http://medblog.nl/2007/07/31/medblogformule-toegepast-op-engelstalige-medblogs/ http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/0,28757,1725323,00.html http://www.rncentral.com/nursing-library/careplans/top_50_health_2.0_blog http://www.rncentral.com/nursing-library/careplans/100_best_health_care_policy_blog http://www.ondd.org/the-top-100-academic-medical-blogs/ http://technorati.com/pop/blogs/ Blog Search Engines http://www.blogsearchengine.com/ http://www.bloglines.com/ http://www.blogpulse.com/index.html http://www.blogscope.net/ http://www.blogsearchengine.com/ http://blogsearch.google.com/ http://www.icerocket.com/ http://www.searchalert.net/ http://www.technorati.com/

Journal of Communication in Healthcare

The Journal of Communication in Healthcare has just been added to Penn Library e-resources. In it's second year of publication, the quarterly publishes practice-oriented articles written by medical practitioners and related professionals, case studies by medical practitioners and communications managers, and research from medical research centres and universities showing how to improve communication management in healthcare, measure its effectiveness, and communicate its value in supporting medical and organizational goals.

In perusing a few issues to sample the range of topics covered and, more specifically, their bibliographies it quickly becomes obvious that the journal extends from the medical rather than the communications or social science literature. Take an article in the fourth issues of 2008, their first year, "The Development of a Local Cancer Awareness Communication Campaign." The article does not reference any communications or social science journals. Citations come from British Journal of Cancer, Thorax, and The British Journal of General Practice." This is true for most of the articles. "How to Develop a Cancer Information Internet Strategy" (Volume I, Number 3) cites Journal of Clinical Nursing, British Medical Journal, Oncology Times, New England Journal of Medicine, and European Journal of Cancer. I was able to find a reference to Health Education and Research in a piece called "Case Study: Consumer and Provider Perceptions of Offered Anticipatory Guidance During Prenatal Care" (Volume I, Number 3). Other social science titles I was able to spy include Health Information and Libraries Journal, International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, Science Technology and Human Values, and Social Science and Medicine. But I had to look very thoroughly to come up with this small incursion from the social sciences. It certainly seems like the field of Health Communication as defined by doctors, practitioners and public health administrators and the one defined by communications researchers have a lot to share in just these kinds of journals. I'll keep looking for more signs of cross-pollination.

William Evans Bibliographies

For leads on current health communication research, check out the current issue of Health Communication which alwaays features a substantial bibliography of new research articles compiled by William Evans (Institute for Communication and Information Research, University of Alabama). Since the journal is bimonthly you can count on six such bibliographies a year organized around health campaigns and promotion, health communication theory and research, health information and informatics, health risk communication, mediated health communication, patient-physician/interpersonal health communication and communication in medical contexts. Bibliographies usually list from 75 to 100 items. Dr. Evans welcomes suggestions regarding his compilations, especially difficult-to-find/fugitive publications. The journal is available online from the main library webpage. To make checking this a habit you might want to add Health Communication to your Pennalerts account to be receive a table of contents email alert with each issue.

New NCI Report on How Americans Obtain Information About Cancer

Cancer Communication: Health Information National Trends Survey 2003 and 2005, an 85 page report based on data from the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) conducted every other year and sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, is available at the NIH website. The NCI first conducted the study in 2003, surveying the U.S. civilian adult population to assess trends in the usage of health information over time and to study the links among cancer-related communication, knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. From the press release: "The newly issued report provides a snapshot of how Americans are responding to changes in access to information and the abundance of health information. The data show a growing preference toward receiving health information -- whether cancer-related or other health information -- from a health care provider than from other sources, such as printed materials, friends and family, information specialists, and the Internet." About 12,000 responses (by random telephone calls) were recorded in both years combined.

Cases in Public Health Communication & Marketing

Announcing: Cases in Public Health Communication & Marketing, an open access, peer-reviewed journal containing case studies that dissect contemporary work in the fields of public health communication and social marketing. Each case identifies the lessons learned from a recent public health program – whether successful or not – for the purpose of improving the practice of public health communication and marketing. All peer-reviewed case studies in the journal were developed through a collaborative process that required graduate students and their faculty advisers to partner with the practitioners who implemented the public health program.

From CPHCM mission statement:
This journal is intended to advance practice-oriented learning in the fields of public health communication and social marketing. As the first journal in these fields to focus exclusively on case studies, we publish peer-reviewed, commissioned and sponsored cases that have the potential to teach and improve the practice of public health. Each case we publish describes a public health program - or some aspect of a public health program - that is based at least in part on communication or marketing methods. We believe there is much to be learned by critically analyzing real-world experience. Unlike at NASA, at this journal failure is an option. We encourage analysis of both successful and failed programs. By providing a platform to critically assess real-world case studies, this journal hopes to raise the bar on the practice of public health communication and marketing.