Health Communication at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Objective: To describe the diffusion of health communication in a federal agency over this past decade. Methods: Authors reviewed documents and interviewed staff. Results: CDC’s health communication agenda tools for diffusion and programmatic examples are described. Conclusions: Health communication at CDC is positioned as a means of influencing individual behaviors and environmental factors to reduce risks to health. Although virtually all CDC programs share scientific findings with the public comparatively few mount systematic health communication programs. This is due in part to health communication’s place within the epidemiological paradigm of CDC and in part to health promotion needs outstripping resources. (authors)

Control (management · Disease control · Disease prevention · Environmental health · Family medicine · Climate Change Communication and Perception · Computer Science · Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods · Media Studies and Communication · Medicine