Spring 2007, CMM 474 C. A. Brammer, Ph.D.
Tuesday/Thursday 2:00 - 3:15PM Smith Hall 248
Smith Hall 227 Phones: 696-2810(O), 522-2194(H)
E-Mail: Brammer@Marshall.EDU
Office Hours Posted
Course Description: CMM 474 (3 Hours Credit) This course explores the communication demands of health care and promotion; examines current issues and problems in the modern health care system; and identifies communication strategies health care consumers and providers can employ to achieve their health care goals.
Desired Learner Outcomes: As a result of taking this course a student should be able to appreciate the demands for effective communication interactions between health care providers, patients, and family members of patients; identify the issues and problems both patients and the health care providers are challenged with in a modern system of health care delivery; recognize strategies one can employ to achieve health care goals. Using the World Wide Web to gain information about health care issues.
TEXTS: REQUIRED
A) du Pre’, A. (2005). Communicating about health: current issues and perspectives. Second Ed.
Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Company.
B) Occasionally Journal articles or chapters from other sources may be assigned which I will pass out in class.
Internet Sites:
http;//www.cdc.gov/od/oc/hcomm/ This site is called Healthcomm Key with a subtitle “unlocking the power of health communication.”
This site has links to other helpful sites for research purposes. Be sure to well document any material that you might retrieve from any Internet location.
Here are some other sites which you may find helpful in your research activities:
http://galenet.gale.co...it-nohits.html&r=O&f=S
http://www.infoseek.com/topic/health/
http://www.aol.com/webcenters/health/
http://www.americashttp://www.onhealth.com
http://www.ama-assn.org/special/womh/womh.htm
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~drisin/.about_site.html
ASSIGNMENTS:
1 Reaction Paper 25pts.
Midterm 100pts.
Final Exam 100pts.
Term Paper 100pts.
WWW Group Reports 20pts. each member
GRADING SCALE:
100 - 94% = A
93 - 86% = B
85 - 73% = C
72 - 65% = D
64% = F
Grades will be calculated on the above scale. If you have a problem with this, keep in mind that this is a senior level course!
Due dates are to be found in the class schedule so that you can arrange your schedules with other classes you may be taking. No late papers will be accepted. You may submit papers via e-mail...but remember to do so in a timely fashion.
ATTENDANCE POLICY: Attendance at each session is extremely important. Four unexcused absences will result in your final grade being lowered by a letter grade, as does each one after that. Excused absences for university approved reasons will not count against you, except if you miss 1/4 of the meetings for any reason you will fail (unless you drop!). Excused absences must be documented. Excessive lateness will not be acceptable. Two lates will count as one absence.
EXPLANATION of ASSIGNMENTS:
Reaction Paper Instructions:
Reaction paper should have two sections: 1) Summary and 2) Analysis. In the summary section highlight the reading’s key points and general point-of-view on health communication (in your own words). In the analysis section evaluate and critique the perspective taken in the reading, identifying strong and weak points, and suggest any alternative interpretations, conclusions, or applications concerning health communication.
Readings are left to your particular area of interest. The readings should come from professional journals not from popular literature!! The paper is due on the date in the course calendar.
Term Paper:
Your paper should explore a communication issue within the health care industry. The topics (at least in my mind) are limitless. Choose an interesting issue, topic, or model relevant to health communication and write a scholarly term paper explicating current knowledge about the topic (in your own words) reviewing relevant literature (research, scientific, and professional publications) concerning the topic, and applying what you have learned from this review to real life and future communication research. There should be two sections to your paper:
1. Exposition: Pick an intriguing health communication topic (e.g., provider/consumer relations, social support, physician/patient relations, prejudice in health care) and explain the relevance/importance of the topic. Describe fully (in ordinary language) the key elements of the topic, being sure to identify competing perspectives researchers and/or practitioners may have developed concerning the topic. Your exposition should provide the naive reader (me) with a full and clear understanding of current thought and knowledge about the topic.
2. Application: Identify how a specific individual (you, me, your mother, the President, Spike Lee, etc.) or group of individuals (i.e., health care providers, executives, activists, politicians, parents, etc.) might use the information of your exposition. Describe the benefits (long and short term) of conceptualizing health communication the way you do in your paper. Briefly identify any additional thoughts on where this topic should go in terms of theory or research.
Requirements:
1. APA 5th Edition format must be used.
2. 15 sources (current sources: meaning in the last 7 years; and in addition to the text).
3. Typed/double spaced.
4. Topic approved by professor.
5. Abstract at front of paper.
6. Length: 12 to 15 pages not including bibliography, title page, abstract, or other non text pages.
If you have questions please make an appointment to talk about them.
World Wide Web Group Report:
In teams of four or five, you will choose a site, analyze its structure and content and present a group report to the class on what you found at the site. You also will provide an evaluation of the potential value of the site to class members and other constituencies, such as doctors, researchers, or health care consumers. The time expectation is about 15-20 minutes. Visual aids are expected.
CALENDAR:
Week 1: Jan. 09/11 Course Introduction
Week 2: Jan. 16/18 Establishing a Context for Health Communication
Week 3: Jan. 23/25 History and Current Issues
Week 4: Jan 30/Feb.
01 Patient-Caregiver Communication
Week 5: Feb. 13/15 Caregiver Perspective
Patient Perspective
Diversity Among Patients
Week 6: Feb. 20/22 Social Support
REACTION PAPER
Week 7: Feb. 27/
Mar. 01 Cultural Conceptions of Health and Illness
MIDTERM EXAM
WWW Reports
Week 8: Mar. 6/8 Culture and Diversity in Health Organizations
Week 9: Mar. 13/15 WWW Reports
Week 10: Mar. 20/22 Leadership and Teamwork
Week 11: Mar. 18 - 25 SPRING BREAK
Week 12: Mar. 27/29 WWW Reports
Week 13: Apr. 3/5 Health Images in the Media
Week 14: Apr. 10/12 Health Images in the Media cont.
Week 15: Apr. 17/19 Planning Health Promotion Campaigns
TERM PAPERS DUE
Week 16: Apr. 24/26 Designing and Implementing Health Campaigns B13
May 3 FINAL EXAM
Thursday: 12:45 P.M. - 2:45 P.M.