The History of Health Communication

Abstract

Chapter 4 presents a brief history of the field of health communication, beginning with background on the evolution of communication in general and then focusing on the emergence of health communication as a separate field. The factors involved in the evolution of health communication are reviewed and its roots in other disciplines are discussed. The current state of knowledge on the field of health communication is reviewed and gaps in our knowledge on this topic noted.

The emergence of health as an important personal concern and the ascendancy of healthcare as a major institution in the middle of the 20th century in the U.S. were major factors in the evolution of the field of health communication. The conceptualization of “health” as a distinct value in U.S. society represented a major development in the emergence of the healthcare institution. Prior to World War II health was generally not recognized as a value by Americans but was vaguely tied in with other notions of well-being. In the decades following the war personal health became a growing concern, and the adequate provision of health services became an important issue in the mind of the American public. By the last third of the twentieth century, health had become an obsession with Americans.

Once health became established as a value, it was a short step to establishing a formal healthcare system as the institutional means for achieving that value. An environment was created that encouraged the emergence of a powerful institution that supported many other contemporary American values. In the second half of the 20th century emerging American values combined to give impetus to the growth of the industry. The value that Americans came to place on youth, beauty and self-actualization further contributed to an expansion of the role of healthcare. The ability of the nascent healthcare system to address emerging U.S. values and garner support from the economic, political, and educational institutions assured the ascendancy of this new institutional form.