Second Edition of Special Issue “Strategies and Evidence in Health Communication: Evidence and Perspectives”

Abstract

The second edition of this Special Issue “Strategies and Evidence in Health Communication”, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health aims primarily to increase international literature evidence and observations in the field regarding: (i) health communication strategies and crisis communication, (ii) health education and health advocacy, and (iii) the fight against the phenomenon of Vaccine Hesitancy (VH) through training and communication activities targeting the general public and health professionals. This Special Issue builds on the premise that, despite the fact that theoretical and experimental research has contributed to an increase in knowledge and evidence about the importance of communication in healthcare, communication professionals in this field still face great challenges when trying to develop messages that effectively change the behavior of large groups of people. The need to relay fast and reliable information to the general public has therefore led public institutions to seek out new and innovative ways of transmitting health-related content. In particular, for some time now, Public Health has also been making use of the Internet and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to reach various population groups and achieve better health conditions for all. This practice, known as Digital Health or E-health, provides healthcare using digital tools (e.g., websites and social media networks) and easy-to-understand language. This is particularly important in the current pandemic context, where Public Health continues to face many problems and difficulties in persuading people to adhere to the guidelines issued for the containment of COVID-19, with particular reference to vaccination programs, hence the importance of acquiring and strengthening communication skills in healthcare, where correct and effective communication is immediately beneficial both to professionals and patients.

The Role of Smart Technologies in French Hospitals’ Branding Strategies

“…However, patients and citizens behave differently according to their cultural backgrounds and beliefs (Zhao 2021). For this reason, hospitals need to collaborate with media companies to adapt health communication messages to citizens' needs (Castiglia and Dettori 2022). Nevertheless, our analysis of French hospitals' online newsrooms revealed that most of them had not implemented true collaborations with media companies to achieve these goals.…”

Knowledge and Behaviours towards Immunisation Programmes: Vaccine Hesitancy during the COVID-19 Pandemic Era

“…This implies that current and future vaccination campaigns should focus on the centrality of the individual and include actions aimed at improving Health Literacy and increasing individuals’ engagement with the health system. Actions must be mainly structured around proper communication of the medical, scientific and social value of vaccination, while also building relationships based on trust, awareness and responsible action [ 22 ].…”

“…To this end, bearing in mind the great potential offered by the Internet in health information research processes, health institutions have also chosen to make use of the digital communication channels. Such channels are fundamental to ensure the dissemination of medical–scientific knowledge among user-patients, with the aim of: (i) increasing the spread of high-quality health information; (ii) involving citizens/patients, making them as responsible as possible for their own health; (iii) increasing awareness about infectious diseases and the health treatments available to prevent them [ 21 , 22 , 23 ]. A good example of this is the Italian ‘Vaccinarsì’ network [ 24 ], which is a harbinger of evidence-based messages relayed in consistent terms.…”

COVID-19 and Digital Health: Evolution, Perspectives and Opportunities

“…Moreover, the exponential increase in information available online (including health-related content) and the ease of contributing personal opinions and considerations, which are sometimes misleading and lacking scientific evidence, has led to a delegitimisation of the authoritativeness of health information divulged by health professionals [ 7 , 9 , 16 , 17 ].…”