Health communication is a subfield that focuses on two major issues: 1. How communication techniques can be used to improve the public's understanding of health issues, such as smoking or diet. 2. How health care professionals, such as doctors, can communicate more effectively with patients. Health communication therefore overlaps with interpersonal communication and advertising/public relations. It is as likely to be taught in schools of Public Health as in traditional Speech Communication departments. The field is relatively new, dating back to the mid-1970s.
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