Health Communication
at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Claudia
Fishman Parvanta, PhD; Vicki Freimuth, PhD
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.
Am J Health
Behav 2000;24(1):18-25
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