Hi
Several of you are involved/interested in "Enhancing health literacy through communication", so I thought I would forward this call for papers, though I am not involved in "Studies in Communication Sciences".
cheers
Claude www.adisi.ch
Original text: http://www.scoms.ch/calls/call_SComS_05_2_health.pdf
Call for papers
Studies in Communication Sciences
Thematic section on: Enhancing health literacy through communication
Guest Editors:
Peter J. Schulz, Health Care Communication Laboratory, School of Communication Sciences, University of Lugano
Kent Nakamoto, Department of Marketing, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Access to health information is greater than ever before. The mass media and the Internet have made available to health
consumers vast amounts of medical and health-related information. Policy shifts have increased consumers’ access to
medical records. This welter of information, however, can overwhelm consumers; they feel overloaded, confused, and
uncertain which information and information sources to trust. Moreover, the technical complexity of the information
can compound these problems. In many ways, consumers often lack the health literacy to make effective use of the
available information.
Health literacy is a complex phenomenon that plays around a delicate interrelation of at least three factors: the ability to
read and understand medical information, the ability to use medical information for one’s own health and make good
decisions on the basis of it, and people’s general attitudes toward life. The damaging consequences of low health
literacy have been widely documented. Low health literacy is associated at the individual level with lower self-esteem
and less successful interaction with healthcare providers, and at a community level with increasing health care costs and
hospitalization. Conversely, increasing health literacy can lead to crucial gains in compliance, recall, and satisfaction.
As such, the concept of health literacy has become a central concern in the field of health communication.
This thematic section of Studies in Communication Science aims to bring together contributions that explore
communication strategies to both reach people with low health literacy and increase health literacy. We invite
researchers in the humanities and social sciences, as well as mass-media and technology scholars to share theoretical
perspectives, empirical studies, and case experiences on this topic. Interdisciplinary contributions are particularly
welcome.
Article Format & Topics:
Article in the thematic section can have a length of up to 15 pages (400 words per page, footnotes and bibliography
included). Each author receives 25 free bound reprints of his or her article. The list of possible article topics includes
(but is not limited to):
• Measures to increase readability
• Health literacy and people’s attitudes toward health and health-related products and services
• Health literacy skills
• Health literacy in the domain of patient/provider communication
• Health literacy and Informed Consent
• Health literacy in decision-making
• Case studies on health literacy
• Improving health literacy through different media
• Health literacy and new technologies
Key Dates:
• Submission of Abstract (1-2 pages): 31st March 2005
• Feedback on Abstract: 15th April 2005
• Submission of Article: 30 June 2005
• Feedback from Reviewers: 15th September 2005
• Final Version due: 31st October 2005
• Publication of the Journal: December 2005
Contact Information:
For questions or to submit an abstract contact: *
The Journal’s website (including notes for contributors) can be found at: www.scoms.ch
*e-mail address deleted here, but you can find it on the original document at http://www.scoms.ch/calls/call_SComS_05_2_health.pdf
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