Health communication is a rich, exciting, and relevant area of study that investigates and elucidates the many ways that human and mediated communication dramatically influences the outcomes of health-care and health-promotion efforts. While health communication is a relatively young area of communication inquiry and education, research and writing on this topic has grown tremendously since the early 1980s, generating increasing numbers of important research findings and publications. A major reason for the tremendous growth and development of inquiry related to health communication is the importance of this research area for addressing complex and challenging healthcare demands in society and guiding the promotion of public health.

Communication is at the very center of healthcare and health-promotion efforts. To gather relevant diagnostic information from health-care consumers, doctors, nurses, and other health-care providers depend on their ability to communicate effectively by asking pertinent questions, interpreting responses, and probing for...