Press Room

Flu Season is Here: Communicating the Importance of Getting a Flu Shot

October 22, 2013
Experts Available
Health
Washington, DC  -  Flu season is here. For a fighting chance against the flu, doctors recommend an annual flu shot for the majority of the population. With so many people at risk of getting sick, what is the best way to communicate messages that motivate citizens to get vaccinated?  

Members of The National Communication Association who study health communication can provide insight into the following: 

  • Which messages are most effective in convincing people to get a flu shot?
  • What are the greatest challenges faced in communicating positive health messages?

  • Which health messages resonate well with underserved populations?

WHO: 

Jennifer Gray, Ph.D.
Department of Communication, Appalachian State University
She studies persuasive health message design and health behavior change, health presentations in the media, and health education. 

Gary Kreps, Ph.D.
Department of Communication, George Mason University
His research focuses on health communication and promotion, information dissemination, and risk management. 

About the National Communication Association

The National Communication Association (NCA) advances Communication as the discipline that studies all forms, modes, media, and consequences of communication through humanistic, social scientific, and aesthetic inquiry. NCA serves the scholars, teachers, and practitioners who are its members by enabling and supporting their professional interests in research and teaching. Dedicated to fostering and promoting free and ethical communication, NCA promotes the widespread appreciation of the importance of communication in public and private life, the application of competent communication to improve the quality of human life and relationships, and the use of knowledge about communication to solve human problems. NCA supports inclusiveness and diversity among our faculties, within our membership, in the workplace, and in the classroom; NCA supports and promotes policies that fairly encourage this diversity and inclusion.

For more information, visit natcom.org, follow us on Twitter at @natcomm, and find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NationalCommunicationAssociation.