Cancer Prevention and Control in the Changing Communication Landscape

Kelly D. Blake, Wen-Ying Sylvia Chou, Abby Prestin, Bradford W. Hesse
2013 Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Monographs  
The changing communication landscape, characterized by social media, wikis, mobile technologies, and a host of other emerging, multidirectional communication channels, has dramatically altered the way we conceptualize and carry out health communication efforts related to cancer prevention and control. In this evolving environment, traditional health promotion models are increasingly challenged, while new and innovative communication approaches are developed, implemented, and evaluated. The
more » ... dissemination of cancer information through online media channels has influenced health journalism, and in clinical care, health information technologies are altering the ways in which providers and patients interact with one another and with health information. Researchers and practitioners have begun to examine the impact of the changing communication environment on cancerrelated knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors across the cancer control continuum. Empirical evidence has begun to emerge, though many questions remain unanswered: How is the participative online environment affecting public health and clinical care? How is user-generated content shaping cancer-related health journalism and media campaigns? How can emerging technologies be leveraged to improve cancer control efforts? What are the outcomes of social media-based interventions for various populations? What is the impact of these new technologies and information channels on communication inequality and cancer disparities? To highlight emerging evidence for these and other questions, the National Cancer Institute's (NCI) Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch (HCIRB), a part of the Behavioral Research Program within the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, released an open call inviting investigators from a range of disciplines to contribute empirical work, commentaries, or systematic reviews to this issue of JNCI:Monographs. The call was met with an enthusiastic response represented by the submission of more than 100 abstracts followed by more than 60 competitive manuscripts, and a rigorous, multitiered peer review process that resulted in the final 16 innovative, thought-provoking papers that comprise this monograph. HCIRB last sponsored a cancer communication-related issue of JNCI in 1999, titled, "Cancer Risk Communication: What We Know and What We Need to Learn." That issue followed a workshop on the same topic and consisted mostly of invited articles
doi:10.1093/jncimonographs/lgt032 pmid:24395981 pmcid:PMC3895961 fatcat:qw3mue7pwzcflasexzfttydzvi