Health(Information) Behaviour of Elder Migrants

There is only little information and few findings available on the health-related information about elder persons and the communication channels they use. This applies particularly to the increasingly important subgroup of elder migrants.

An expert report on behalf of the Hamburg Authority of Social Affairs, Family, Health and Consumer Protection pursued the question, as to the channels through which elder persons from a migrant background inform themselves about health- and disease-related topics. project description

DFG Project on the Role of Media in Building Confidence in Medical Knowledge

Through online media, especially the offerings of “web 2.0” or “social web”, the relation changes between experts and non-professionals in public communication on scientific information: on the Internet new arenas of science transfer arise (e.g. expert public spheres, collaborative public spheres, personal public sphere). Using the example of medical information the question is explored which role the various communication arenas take in building confidence in medical knowledge. Through group discussions and sampling it is examined, how medical laymen create confidence in medical knowledge with the help of different information and communication offerings and by which indicators and factors related to recipients and situations this confidence is affected.

In a follow-up project also supplementary case studies are planned to examine the concrete mechanisms of selection and presentation of medical knowledge as well as the users’ situational dealing with such online-based arenas. The project is part of the DFG priority programme “Science and the General Public: Understanding Fragile and Conflicting Evidence” (SPP 1409).  project description

Expecting the Personal Trainer at Home. Potentials of Entertaining Communication Strategies

The upcoming challenges of the "Krankenkassenkommunikation 2009" [Health Insurance Communication 2009] are the focus of the eponomous Conference, held on 26. September 2008 and hosted by the Faculty of Communication Science at the WWU Münster and the Company LexisNexis, also in Münster. In her lecture „Wenn der Personal Trainer nach Hause kommt: Potenziale unterhaltsamer Kommunikationsstrategien“ [Expecting the Personal Trainer at Home. Potentials of Entertaining Communication Strategies], Claudia Lampert presented an approach to promoting health-related messages in fictional TV-Offerings (f.ex. soap operas) and computer games (keyword: Serious Games for Health) within the scope of the Entertainment-Education-Conceptual Approach. Other speakers introduced various perspectives and approaches aimed at improving communcation between insurers and the insured. Further Information (pdf-file, in German only)

Education in the field of Health Communication

While the importance of preventing illness and promoting health has increased during the past few years, there are not many places where one can earn academic qualifications in the field of Health Communication. In their article "Möglichkeiten der akademischen Ausbildung im Bereich Gesundheitskommunikation" [Possibilites of Academic Education in the Area of Health Communication] (pdf-file, in german only), Claudia Lampert and Daniel Tolks draw attention to this deficiency and offer a tabular overview of all academic training opportunities in Germany.