Master of Arts in Health Communication

Communication plays critical roles in health and risk behavior, health care, health promotion and influences both health outcomes and the cost of health care. In the past decade, the U.S. Surgeon General and the Department of Health and Human Services have recognized communication as vital to achieving the nation’s health promotion and disease prevention agenda.

The study of health communication addresses such areas as: how health care providers communicate with their patients and how patients can be empowered in these interactions; how media messages can affect understandings of risk, health, illness and disease; how everyday conversations influence health and risk behavior; how traditional and new media are used in health promotion and education; and how to design effective messages to reduce risk, prevent disease and promote health.

One of the areas of greatest job growth is in health-related professions. These include health care-related professions, patient advocacy and support, health marketing, public health and health promotion through agencies and non-profit organizations.

Click here to view the Master of Arts in Health Communication brochure.