Health Communication Division

Group Communication Division logo

Health Communication, added as a focus area to Healthy People 2010 and 2020, is one of the most visible and grant-funded areas of scholarship within and outside NCA. The centrality and influence of health communication is evidenced by Institute of Medicine reports that highlight its importance, the Health Communication and Informatics Research branch of the National Cancer Institute, the proliferation of graduate programs and positions in the area, and the increase in specialized conferences for health communication research and practice. Major professional organizations outside communication (e.g., American Public Health Association) offer forums for sharing health-communication scholarship. The APHA, the ICA, and the NCA jointly run the Coalition for Health Communication. Given this recognition, NCA’s Health Communication Division plays a significant role in representing the discipline as it works to advance theory, research, teaching, and practical applications of human and mediated communication to health care and health promotion. The division sponsors an Outstanding Health Communication Scholar Award, Top Dissertation/Thesis Awards (with ICA’s Health Communication Division), and a Distinguished Book and Article/Chapter Award to recognize exceptional health communication scholarship. The division also holds a “doctoral and early career” pre-conference every two years to enhance the academic work, research, and network of doctoral students and recent Ph.D.s working to establish their career and research agenda.