When Barry Bloom became Dean of HSPH, he added "communication" to the School's mission statement as a means of advancing the public's health. Since then, various initiatives have been undertaken to fulfill that goal. In the latest effort, the School has unveiled a new Health Communication Concentration (HCC) at HSPH.
"We are in the midst of two revolutions: one centered in science and one centered in technology-driven communication," explained Vish Viswanath, chair of the HCC steering committee and HSPH Associate Professor of Society, Human Development, and Health. "We have a growing understanding of fundamental biological processes and of the social determinants of health. This understanding is unfolding against a backdrop of new communications tools. The challenge is to connect these two revolutions-to translate knowledge to the public so that they can learn and change their behaviors to lead healthier lives."
The Health Communication Concentration is housed in the Department of Society, Human Development, and Health. Said department Chair Lisa Berkman, "The department trains students and practitioners in investigating the social determinants of health and in developing and evaluating public health policies. This combination of both theoretical and applied concepts matches well with the requirements of the new concentration."
The concentration will teach conceptual, analytical, and applied competencies to understand the role of mass media institutions in public health; criticism of health communication literature; and skills in promoting public health policy and practice. All doctoral and two-year masters' students at HSPH are eligible.
The students fulfill the degree requirements of their respective departments. In addition, they complete the requirements of the concentration, which include at least 10 credits from a listing of courses, with one required foundational class and at least one course each from "applied settings" and "advanced topics" groups. Students do not receive a degree from the concentration, but are given a letter stating that they had completed its requirements.
"In this day and age, you cannot do aspects of public health effectively without having skills in health communication in your arsenal," said Jay Winsten, Frank Stanton Center Director and Associate Dean for Public and Community Affairs at HSPH. "Students should consider pursuing the concentration if they wish to do work in the public sector, or if they want to learn how to use advocacy skills to advance public health goals, or if they want to undertake disease prevention promotion and understand social marketing, for example."
Winsten is the lead instructor of one of the required courses in the HCC, ID284: Media and Health Communication: Practical Skills, which was launched three years ago and has been very popular. The concentration in general draws upon courses and resources already established at the School. In addition, Viswanath is teaching a foundation course, SHH211: Health Promotion through Mass Media.
A Lecture Series on Mass Media in Health was launched last year. The series, organized by the Center for Health Communication in collaboration with the Division of Public Health Practice and the Office of Communications, has brought media luminaries such as ABC's Timothy Johnson and The New York Times' Lawrence Altman to the School.
The HCC at HSPH reflects a growing awareness about the importance of communication skills. The Association of Schools of Public Health has identified "communication" as one of six new interdisciplinary/cross-cutting competencies for training students. Several reports from the Institute of Medicine have also spotlighted the role of communication in the field of public health.
In addition to Viswanath and Winsten, the following individuals are affiliated with the Health Communication Concentration: S. Bryn Austin, Lilian Cheung, Gregory Connolly, Karen Emmons, Andrea Gurmankin Levy, Robin Herman, Howard Koh, Rima Rudd, and Kimberly Thompson.
For more information, email esolomon@hsph.harvard.edu.
Copyright, 2009, President and Fellows of Harvard College
