Health Communication Science Digest | Gateway to Health Communication | CDC

Health Communication Science Digest | Gateway to Health Communication | CDC



Health Communication Science Digest -- March 2015

Dear colleagues,

The March issue of Health Communication Science Digest (HCSD or Digest) is now available athttp://www.cdc.gov/healthcommunication/ScienceDigest/index.html

We congratulate several of our Center for Disease Control and Prevention colleagues for publishing an informative study. Xin Xu, Robert L. Alexander Jr., and Tim McAfee -- from the Office on Smoking and Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion -- and Scott Goates -- from the Office of the Associate Director for Policy, Office of the Director – report on evidence from the Tips from Former Smokers (Tips) campaign. Their paper, entitled “A cost-effectiveness analysis of the first federally funded antismoking campaign,” is in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Several other authors (Abel, et al.; Kegler, et al.; Moran & Sussman; Yang, et al.) also report on various health communication campaigns and/or interventions.

The study “Psychological language on Twitter predicts county-level heart disease mortality” by Eichstaedt, et al. appearing in Psychological Science generated considerable discussion among the Digest staff. The paper details an interesting approach to public health surveillance using social media.

Audience characteristics in health message dissemination are the focus of many writers (Li & Tsai; Malinen; Manierre; Rudat & Buder; Seymour, et al.). Health message design considerations are highlighted by several writers (Fransen, et al.; Hornik , et al.; Jin, et al.; Ludolph & Schultz; Richards & Banas; Stavrositu & Kim; Stok, et al.). Studies of risk communication (Clarke, et al.; Guenther, et al.; Luo, et al.) and health literacy (Carroll, et al.) are also detailed.

Please remember that you can access all issues of the “Health Communication Science Digest” series online via the searchable Health Communication Science Digest Archive.

We hope that you find the Health Communication Science Digest useful and invite you to provide us with feedback for improvement. Please send us articles that you would like to share with others—articles you or your colleagues have published or found useful.

Please send your comments and questions to HCSD@cdc.gov.

Doğan Eroğlu

Associate Director for Communication Science

Office of the Associate Director for Communication

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA