Editorial: online health communication in improving outcomes.

摘要

When the majority of the public use Wikipedia as the major source of health information (Laurent & Vickers 2009), there is a pressing need for health professionals to provide effective communication. Health communication encompasses the study and use of communication strategies to inform and influence individual and community decisions that improve health. It is relevant in several contexts, including the construction of public health messages and campaigns; individual's exposure to, search for and use of information; health professional-patient relations and the development of tele-health applications (Healthy People 2010).