Bachelor of Arts [B.A] [Communication Studies (Health Communication)] From Kent State University

Health Communication - Communication plays critical roles in health and risk behavior, health care, health promotion and actual health outcomes. In the past decade, the importance of health communication has been recognized by the U.S. Surgeon General and the Department of Health and Human Services as critical to the nation's health promotion and disease prevention agenda. Health communication addresses areas such as: how health care providers communicate with their patients and how patients can be empowered in these interactions; the power of media messages to affect understandings of risk, health, illness and disease, and health care professionals; the influence of everyday conversations in health and risk behavior; the impact of traditional and new media in health; and designing effective messages to reduce risk, prevent disease and promote health. Students in the health communication concentration take courses such as Health Communication; Communication in Health Care; Everyday Interpersonal Communication; Health, Communication, Aging and Culture; and Health Communication and Media. Education and training in health communication enhances marketability for jobs as communication specialists in health, health care, and health promotion, including positions in pharmaceutical sales, patient advocacy, non-profit health-related organizations, health agencies, patient support teams, health promotion and patient relations.