Multicultural Health Communication

The course will begin with an overview of Health Communication in the United States and the ways in which health and illness are defined through communication, including media. We will discuss existing health disparities and social determinants of health as we examine health communication in multicultural settings in the U.S. We will further examine multicultural audiences and perspectives about health and illness, including diverse meaning systems and their influences on health attitudes and behaviors. Students will learn about cross-cultural conceptions of health and disease and how those conceptions are represented in communication about health and illness. As students learn about what it means to develop culturally grounded health communication campaigns, they will examine culture centric messaging in health promotion. We will also discuss the ways in which health care systems are promoting patient-centered health care that takes intersectionality and identity into consideration.