Delivering Broad & Deep Expertise in Evidence-Based Health Communication
Health communication is the science and art of using communication to advance the health and well-being of people and populations. The vision of the Center for Health Communication — a collaboration between The University of Texas at Austin’s Dell Medical School and Moody College of Communication — is improved health for all through evidence-based health communication.
Areas of Focus
The center contributes to the evidence base for health communication through a range of research and scholarly activities. An ever-growing network of faculty affiliates are tackling tough research questions — spanning interpersonal, organizational and mass media communication and involving medical, social science and public health disciplines.
The center also manages the Communication for Health, Empathy and Resilience (CHER) grant program. Launched in 2017, the program aims to promote collaboration between Moody College of Communication and Dell Medical School faculty in their evidence-based health communication scholarship, education and community involvement endeavors.
The Health Communication Leadership Institute is the center’s premier professional education event, and the Health Communication Training Series provides online health communication skills training for professionals in medicine and public health.
The center puts its research to work. It partners with organizations such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Texas Women, Infants and Children Program; Texas Health and Human Services Commission; and the University of Texas System to address real-world health communication challenges. Its interdisciplinary teams bring together researchers and practitioners from different fields around pressing health topics.
Since 2014, the Center for Health Communication has trained thousands of health professionals and students to become better communicators and has created evidence-based messaging campaigns that have made notable impact on some of the state’s biggest public health challenges.