Communication research in the health sector

Health communication is a scientific discipline and the application of communicative strategies, aimed at informing and impacting the decisions in the health area^[1]. 

Health communication is one of the Communication Studies branches, a single field of knowledge in the Western social sciences system. Besides Health communication, Communication Studies includes other subsections as well: organisational communication, interpersonal communication, intercultural communication, visual communication, communication in groups, public relations, etc.

Understanding health communication as a part of a whole allows our scientists to rely on formal descriptors of the communication component and contributes to the education internationalisation in health communication.

Our practice is only one of the courses of the Department on its way to the consolidation of the communicative knowledge in Russia. Besides that, the communicative approach is realised in teaching a whole range of disciplines and hosting events in the Department. Annually, theoretics from the Communication departments of western universities are invited as lecturers and visiting scientists. 

Our mission

Our mission is the legitimation of the HEALTH COMMUNICATION area as the incipient academic route in Russia, the creation of a platform to be able to comprehend the practical application of the scientific research results in the area of healthcare.

We set several strategic goals: 1) contribute to overcoming fragmentation of communicative knowledge as a scientific sector in Russia, 2) create a platform for the dialogue with the Russian practising medical society representatives and the academic world, 3) raise the significance of the applied scientific research in the health communication area for professionals in the Russian healthcare.

 
Our tactical objectives come down to:

1. hosting research (projects) in health communication on the demanded and actual problems of Russian healthcare, including, at the initiative of the customer;

2. searching partners in the health care sector, aware of the importance and the inevitability of planning communicative activity based on empirical data.

3. conveying the results of the scientific research in health communication to the subjects of the Russian healthcare;

4. establishing a discussion platform to exchange ideas about incorporating the scientific research results into the medical workers, healthcare ministry employees, public organisations, teachers, etc. practices.

Our Team

Our research directions 

We research the impact of the different communicative forms of activity (advertising, public relations, interpersonal communications etc.) to change the behaviour of people regarding health (for instance, reaching compliance, taking action for one’s health improvement or disease prevention etc.). The final goal of health communication is initiating positive behavioural change regarding health.

 

The main routes of our research:

e-Health, Health 2.0 - the study of the impact of social media, digital technologies and devices on the attitude and behaviour of the target audiences regarding health and the formation of conclusions for the development of information campaigns.

Building effective messages in health communication - the study of the features of the messages about health (media, personal etc.) for trust, recognisability, memorability etc.

The role of mass communication in health care campaigns - the research on the impact of advertising, media channels on perceiving messages about health. What agenda formation features in the healthcare discourse, framing information about health methods in Russian media and advertising? 

Doctor-patient communication -  the research, aimed at studying the specifics of the communication between doctors and patients. This research direction covers different communication aspects with patients, including the questions of ageing communication. 

Healthcare industry actors and communication in health-related areas - the research aimed at studying communication between the representatives of healthcare ministry and medical institutions; clinics and insurance companies; food manufacturers and supervisory authorities etc. The main interest is to understand the communication problems that can act as obstacles on the way to a productive institutional field for communication companies.

The institutionalisation of health communication - the research concerning the formation of an academic and professional direction - health Communication in Russia. Market analysis, structuring and identifying its features, and predicting its development.

The research results may be interesting to the medical institutions’ representatives (doctors, supervisors), pharmaceutical companies, healthcare Ministry, public organisations, higher education institutions. Based on empirical evidence, healthcare industry representatives can make justified decisions about building or adjusting one or another communication campaign.

 

Completed student projects at the Project Fair in 2018/2019

 2019

1. An overview of communication practices in the healthcare industry and related branches. Supervisor: Bachurina N. 10.02.19-15.04.19

What are the communication features at different levels of the healthcare system in Russia, as well as in the related sectors of the economy - pharmaceutical industry, telemedicine? What communication strategies, tactics and communication channels are used in each segment? What trends are foreshadowed in Russian practice and theory of health communication? The project will collect and analyse data from open resources; will conduct an online survey of industry subjects. 

2018

1. Practice and Health communication in Russia. Supervisor: Mordvinova M., Bachurina N. 12.11.2018-24.12.2018

The project is aimed at studying the processes of institutionalisation of communication health in Russia. The research field includes practical and theoretical issues. Firstly, it is planned to conduct a review of professional health communication in Russia. Which of the players in this market conduct communication interventions on a relatively systematic basis? What health problems are considered by healthcare institutions and health-related organisations that initiate information campaigns? What is the effectiveness of these campaigns? What is the specificity of communicative interventions in healthcare and its audience? On the other hand, is it planned to study how the term “communication health” is conceptually understood by practitioners and theoretics? What is the spectrum of scientific research in Russia, does the theory reflect the needs of practitioners and vice versa. As a result of the work done it is predicted that we will understand the structure, market conditions, and the theory of health communication. We will also be able to understand how achievement in practical and theoretical fields can enrich each other. 

2. Building communication with students - non-blood donors. Supervisor: Mordvinova M., Bachurina N. 22.10.2018-21.12.2018 

The project is aimed at the study and practical development of research activities in the field of health communication. As a result of the implementation of the project, it is planned to answer the question: why students - including those who are socially active and involved in various volunteering projects - do not become blood donors. Understanding this will make it possible to design a communicative model of involvement in a regular responsible donation of blood and its components for students of a higher educational institution in a metropolis. 

 

Graduation qualifying students works 

• Kochelova Daria. Does the Internet have more power than doctors?: Beliefs of “informed patients” in careful antibiotic treatment

• Nikonenko Anastasia. User-generated fitness content on social media: impact of health behaviour 

• Yazkova Elizaveta. Attribution of professionalism as a source of health expertise on the internet: assessing the trust message by the users 

• Yurieva Maria. Effective and ineffective talking of messages from private medical clinics

• Skvortsova Anna. Gender characteristics of health communication: a content analysis of news, advertising and articles about health in Russian-language women’s and men’s magazines

• Serebryakova Valeria. Communicating “smart eating” with food labelling in Russia 

• Bazhulich Kristina. The influence of the doctor’s self-efficacy on improving communication with the patient

• Kimlyk Maria. State communication campaigns about health in Russia: their relevance audience perception of the priority of health problems. 

• Chachkov Aleksey. Targeting messages for older smokers: the impact on behavioural change

• Kurganova Diana. Searching for information on the Internet before visiting a doctor: the implications for patient-doctor communication

• Shelmenkina Karina. Targeted Advertising in the “Vkontakte” social network: the effectiveness of various formats

• Radchenko Irina. The impact of social media on perceptions of the risks associated with sexually transmitted diseases

• Shelkunov Igor. Wearable devices as an attribute of a healthy lifestyle?: the opportunities and limitations for communication between the user and the brand. 

• Mosheva Anastasia. Healthcare consumers in post-modern healthcare: removing communication barriers between the Internet-informed patient and the doctor (by the example of mothers and paediatricians)

• Yancheva Anastasia. Communicating factors that cause fear or rejection of the primary experience on blood donation: the theory of planned behaviour (by the example of the “Donate blood at HSE” campaign)

• Kalinichenko Valeria. Social smoking among students of Russian universities: developing a communication strategy for the anti-tobacco campaign

• Kosinova Daria. The dichotomy of social and commercial interest in sports sponsorship of unhealthy food, beverage, alcohol and tobacco brands: youth perceptions 

• Papelnikov Roman. Sexual health and behaviour advertising: socio-cultural aspects

 

Our publications

2020

Endaltseva A., Bachurina N.,Mordvinova M. Co-Creating in the Wonderland: Communication and Patient-Oriented Healthcare in Russia, in: The Handbook of Strategic Communication . Wiley-Blackwell, 2020 (in press). 

2015

Mordvinova M., Endaltseva A.Health communication and rhetorical challenges for the anti-smoking policy in Russia // Journal of Communication in Healthcare: Strategies, Media, and Engagement in Global Health . 2015. Vol. 8. No. 4. P. 325-334

News about us

Maria Mordvinova participated in the Conference on Health Communication, Kentucky, USA (May 2020) with a report on blood-donors communication in family circles.

Nelli Bachurina took part in the annual convention of the national communication association with a scientific report "Health Communication in Russia as a Part of the Developing Communication Field: Academics’ and Practitioners’ Perspectives" (14-17th November 2019), Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

Valeria Kalinichenko, 4th-year student of the educational programme “Advertising and Public Relations” and the winner of Research Contest, was awarded second place in the scientific battles of the HSE with the study “The impact of anti-tobacco advertising on the attitude of young people to smoking: gender aspect”.

Alexandra Yendaltseva. Public health: an invitation to talk and act.

Maria Mordvinova participated in the Conference on Health Communication, Lexington, USA, 2016.