Chapter 18 Communication and Health
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Chapter 18—Communication and Health
At a Glance
Communication with Caregivers
Social Support and Health
Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter you should be able to:
2. Explore models of patient/caregiver communication.
4. Understand the need for patient confidentiality and HIPPA.
6. Comprehend the job of social support to improve and to harm health.
8. Understand the influence of media images on health risks.
Chapter 18 Communication and Health
Lecture Outline
I. Communication with Caregivers
A. Caregivers are the people with the responsibility of tending to the mental
and physical health needs of others.
2. Volunteer caregivers provide their services for free.
B. Patients have communication needs.
1. Patients need information.
a. For many people, the process of identifying an illness begins when
they notice some type of symptom, a sign of a potential health
problem.
2. Patients need certainty.
a. People often seek attention from health care providers as a way to
gain certainty about their symptoms.
b. When someone sees a health care provider, the provider generally
3. Patients need confidentiality.
a. In the United States, as in many countries, mental and physical
health professionals are required by law and professional ethics to
keep all communication with patients confidential.
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whole or part.
4. Patients need privacy.
a. Each of us must manage our private medical information and make
decisions about disclosing that information to others.
b. In 1996, Congress enacted the Health Insurance Portability and
C. Caregivers have communication needs.
1. Caregivers need information.
a. Caregivers need accurate and complete information when caring
2. Caregivers need efficiency.
a. Caregivers feel the pressure of time constraints when attending to
3. Caregivers need empathy.
a. Having empathy (the ability to understand other people’s thoughts
and feelings) is useful for caregivers because it helps them identify
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distribution in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in
whole or part.
4. Caregivers need cooperation.
a. Caregivers need cooperation from patients and their families.
b. Research finds that up to 50 percent of patients don’t comply with
their caregivers’ treatment instructions.
D. Patient–provider communication models.
1. Physician-centered communication.
a. Physician-centered communication is a model in which
physicians dictate the duration and scope of communication with
2. Collaborative communication.
a. The model of collaborative communication encourages patients
and providers to interact as partners.
E. Communication technology and health.
1. Telemedicine.
a. Telemedicine is the use of communication technology for health
consultation.
b. Telemedicine offers advantages for both caregivers and patients.
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distribution in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in
whole or part.
2. E-therapy.
a. E-therapy is the use of communication technology for delivering
or receiving psychotherapy.
II. Social Support and Health
A. Stress can impair health.
1. The stress process.
a. Stress is the body’s reaction to any type of perceived threat.
b. Stressors are events or agents in your environment that cause such
2. Stress effects on health.
a. The stress response itself is normal and healthy.
B. Social support can improve health.
2. People exchange at least four forms of social support.
a. Instrumental support occurs when we provide tangible forms of
assistance.
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distribution in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in
whole or part.
c. We provide emotional support when we give our time, our
presence, and our comfort to someone in distress.
d. We offer esteem support when we help someone in distress to feel
that his or her problems are legitimate rather than trivial.
3. Social support and stress buffering.
a. Social support adds to our health by shielding us from the negative
effects of stressors.
4. Social support and coping.
a. Social support can enhance our health by helping us to cope with
stressful events after they have occurred.
C. Social support can be unhelpful.
1. Social support is unhelpful when the support isn’t what the recipient
needs.
3. Unhelpful gestures include the following:
a. Minimizing the problem.
III. Health Messages in the Media
A. Health messages are everywhere.
1. News coverage.
a. News outlets report information on the following:
Chapter 18 Communication and Health
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distribution in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in
whole or part.
i. Medical screening and treatment
ii. Public health threats
iii. Health policy
b. The media’s widespread influence raises concerns over the content
of health news.
i. Sensationalism is the tendency of the media personnel to favor
dramatic health stories and exaggerate their importance.
ii. Reverse sensationalism occurs when news outlets provide too
little coverage of health problems that are quite serious.
2. Advertising.
a. Some people have argued that the expense of advertising is
needlessly driving up the cost of medications, as the U.S.
3. Entertainment.
a. Many television programs over the years have depicted health care
settings, and medical television shows are still popular.
b. Some popular movies have also focused on medical settings.
4. Online.
a. Health messages appear in multiple places on the Internet.
b. People are as likely to encounter sensationalized health news
headlines on news websites as on television.
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© 2018 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or
distribution in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in
whole or part.
iv. They are affiliated with an established medical research firm,
university, or government agency.
e. Patients’ ability to find medical information online has changed the
nature of their communication with health care providers.
B. Media images can increase health risks.
1. Body image, eating disorders, and steroid abuse.
a. Consumers routinely encounter media images of bodies that are
unreasonably thin.
2. Alcohol use and abuse.
a. Many media images glamorize alcohol and may encourage people
3. Violence.
a. Two out of every three television programs feature scenes of
4. Sexual health.
a. Although sex is frequently depicted in media messages, sexual
IV. Health-Promotion Campaigns
A. Communication can change health behavior.
1. Health belief model.
a. According to the health belief model, people will be most
motivated to change their health-related behaviors if they hold the
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distribution in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in
whole or part.
2. Social cognitive theory.
a. Social cognitive theory proposes that people base their behavioral
3. Theory of reasoned action.
a. The theory of reasoned action is based on the assumption that
it.
4. Theory of planned behavior.
a. People sometimes intend to perform behaviors that they don’t
5. Transtheoretical model.
a. People tend to change in stages.
b. According to the transtheoretical model, behavior change occurs in
five stages:
B. Planning a health campaign.
1. Define the goal.
a. Many health campaigns define their goal in terms of reducing a
2. Understand the audience.
a. It is important to know your audience so that you can target your
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distribution in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in
whole or part.
3. Identify the communication channels.
a. You’ll want to ponder all the ways of getting your message out
before choosing the ones you’ll use.
b. Selecting the appropriate channels for your campaign depends
partly on the campaign’s goals and target audience.
C. Conducting a health campaign.
1. Design the message.
a. Your message is usually an appeal to your audience to change its
behavior in some way.
b. You can use one of several strategies when designing your
2. Implement the campaign.
a. Most campaigns start with a pilot test, which is a small-scale
3. Evaluate the outcomes.
a. To determine how successful your health campaign is, you need to
identify and measure relevant outcomes.
b. The outcomes you need to measure will depend on the goal of your
campaign.
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© 2018 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or
distribution in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in
whole or part.
Chapter 18 Communication and Health
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Key Terms
caregivers
health care providers
physician-centered communication
collaborative communication
Chapter 18 Communication and Health
Additional Lecture Ideas
1. Research HIPPA documents posted online and be prepared to discuss the changes
2. Assign students to watch an episode of Gray’s Anatomy, House, or another
medical television program outside of class. Analyze the medical aspects of the
show, referencing the role of communication between caregivers and patients.
3. Assign students to view 2–3 television advertisements for medical products and
4. Identify a health-related product that is promoted through social media. Compare
an advertising campaign online to an advertisement in a magazine. Evaluate the
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Classroom Discussion and Activity Topics
1. As a class, discuss the position of your university with regard to HIPPA
regulations. Do you support the university policy regarding distribution of
2. Divide students into groups and ask each group to design a health campaign for a
relevant campus health issue. Consider issues such as the promotion of campus
3. Ask a representative from Student Affairs to speak to the class on the proactive
position of the campus with regard to body image issues, eating disorders, or drug
and alcohol use. What steps have been taken to increase campus awareness of
4. Discuss the need for the university to improve the healthy food options in its
5. Discuss what effect television has on body image. Are eating disorders increasing
among young children, college students, and older adults? Do reality television
Chapter 18 Communication and Health
For Review
1. What communication issues characterize patients’ relationships with caregivers?
2. How does social support influence physical and mental health?
3. In what ways do media messages enhance or inhibit well-being?
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Pop Quiz
Multiple Choice
1. Damien’s doctor tells him that his condition will take approximately 3 months to
improve, but that he will eventually recover. By saying that, she is communicating
Damien’s
a. symptom.
b. diagnosis.
c. prognosis.
d. treatment plan.
2. According to Klingle’s research, female physicians gain the most cooperation from
patients when they communicate with what type(s) of messages?
a. positive or neutral
b. positive only
c. neutral only
d. negative or neutral
3. While Bonnie was receiving chemotherapy, her neighbor Cheryl brought her meals
and drove her to the doctor’s office. Cheryl was providing
a. instrumental support.
b. information support.
c. emotional support.
d. esteem support.
4. Regarding media messages and body image, which of the following claims is true?
a. The average U.S. adult woman has a healthy body mass index.
b. Women and men are equally likely to suffer from eating disorders.
c. Men are immune to the body image pressures of the media.
d. Most people who abuse anabolic steroids are male.
5. Jay designs a print ad to scare people into giving up smoking. Which type of health
appeal is he using?
a. logical appeal
b. positive-affect appeal
c. negative-affect appeal
d. none of these
Fill in the Blanks
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6. A provision of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
known as the _____ gives patients increased access to, and control over, their
personal health information.
7. _____ is the use of communication technology for health consultation.
8. _____ consists of efforts to eliminate or reduce the effects of a stressful situation.
9. The tendency of media to favor dramatic stories and exaggerate their importance is
called _____.
10. In the theory of planned behavior, _____ is the belief that you have the ability to
perform an action.