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Health Comm- Chapter 1 (Test #1)

Terms in this set (15)

Why is it important to study health comm?
1. Comm is crucial to the success of healthcare encounters
-1 in 2 adults have low health literacy
2. Wise use of mass media helps people learn healthy perspectives
-assess public need
-disseminate info
-media literate individuals are less likely to believe unrealistic images often portrayed in the media
3. Comm is an important source of personal confidence & coping ability
-health professionals are less likely to experience burnout if they are confident about their comm skills
-patients cope better when they can adequately express their feelings about their health
4. Effective comm saves time & money
-less malpractice suits for those who comm well
-patients who comm well are more likely to have their issues addressed quicker
5. Comm helps healthcare orgs operate effectively
-potential clients are better understood
-strong comm enables employee motivation, self-managing terms
-superior/subordinate comm is crucial to job satisfaction
6. The health industry is booming
-clinical care, PR, patient advocacy
Models of Medicine
...
Biomedical Model
-disease is a temporary biological condition that can be cured by medical intervention
-this model focuses on:
1. cure
2. dominant, paternalistic physician role
3. a passive patient role
4. patient serves as a "target of power"
5. dependencies occur due to privileged terminology & gatekeeping
-provides focus on the disease, not the patient...the patient is seen as an external factor
-this distance allows caregivers to remain detached
Biopsychosocial Model
-takes into account peoples physical conditions, their thoughts & beliefs, & social expectations
-relevant to social constructionalism
-meaning is created through interaction
-reality is defined by the sharing of experiences & knowledge through comm
-meaning is negotiated
*health & illness are ideas that are socially constructed
What is health?
a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease
Communication
comm is the process of understanding & sharing meaning
*defining comm as a process recognizes that people are involved in an outgoing effort to understand each other & the world around them
*just as comm has no set beginning, it has no set end either
Interdependent
communicators rely on each other & exert mutual influence on comm episodes
*interdependence also serves to emphasize that everyone involved in a comm episode has some influence on it
Cultural display rules
ways of showing emotions in different cultures
Health Comm
the way we seek, process, & share health info
*emerged as a defined area of study in the late 1960s
Emphasis on efficiency
-as demand for health services increases, there is more concern than ever that they be affordable
Prevention
-prevention has become a health priority for two main reasons: it increases peoples quality of life, & it costs less than medical treatment
Patient empowerment
patients have considerable influence in medical matters
Global Health Needs & Intercultural Competence
travel, immigration, & the international exchange of food & products mean that diseases today are continually carried across national borders
Changing populations
population shifts are changing health care needs in the US
Technology
the ability to comm with people across great distances may avail people of medical care, info, & social support that they would not otherwise receive
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