Minor in Health Communication

The Health Communication minor (18 hours) is part of the new curriculum in the School of Speech Communication and is open to all students who are not SCOM majors at James Madison University.

This minor is designed to help students who plan careers in health fields to be more effective communicators and thereby more effective health practitioners. Researchers have found that 11-65% of health care consumers are dissatisfied with the communication interaction between themselves and health care professionals.

Research findings indicate that about 51% of patients/clients do not follow the suggestions/orders of health professionals. This noncompliance, not taking medicines or not following exercise regimens for example, leads to higher rates of illness and to people not being physically fit.

Researchers have studied demographic, physical and psychological characteristics of clients/patients in order to determine which variables correlate with compliance/noncompliance. The only variable that has shown major correlation rates is effective or ineffective communication interaction.

It has been suggested that up to 50% of the illness in the United States could be lessened or abolished if health care professionals were more effective communicators, for example, if wellness centers could motivate overweight persons to stay with their exercise programs.

This is why we are educating communication majors and minors to be more effective communicators in the health care arena.

Health Communication

The minor in health communication is designed to  provide students not majoring in speech  communication with conceptual and applied  knowledge about communication interaction and its effects on health care, health care practitioners and  patients/clients. In addition, the minor should provide students with knowledge of the functions of  communication within health care organizations. It  is designed for students pursuing careers in health  communication or other health care fields.

For more information contact Dr. Anne Gabbard-Alley at 540-568-3586

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