Gary Schwitzer has published HealthNewsReview.org since 2006. He is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the University of Minnesota School of Public Health and director of the Center for Media Communication & Health. Previously, he directed a health journalism graduate program. Schwitzer has been working in, and with, the media for many years. No surprise, he has received numerous awards for his many contributions to medical communication.
In this podcast, Gary Schwitzer talks with Helen Osborne about:
- How HealthNewsReview analyzes, grades, and works to improve journalism and public dialogue about health news.
- Ways health communicators can help increase the public’s understanding about health issues, information, and implication of their choices. An example is making sense about screening, versus diagnostic, tests.
- Resources and models of clearly communicating nuanced health information.
More Ways to Learn:
- HealthNewsReview.org, at http://www.healthnewsreview.org. Includes “Tips for Understanding Studies” at http://www.healthnewsreview.org/toolkit/tips-for-understanding-studies/
- Perry S, MinnPost, May 1, 2015. “Confused by a drumbeat of health news ‘dreck?’ A Minnesota-based website aims to help.” http://www.minnpost.com/second-opinion/2015/05/confused-drumbeat-health-news-dreck-minnesota-based-website-aims-help
- Helping Others Understand Health Messages (HLOL #56). A Health Literacy Out Loud podcast interview with Dr. Lisa M Schwartz and Dr. Steven Woloshin. At /2011/04/05/health-literacy-out-loud-56-helping-others-understand-health-messages/
- Welch HG, Schwartz LM, Woloshin, Overdiagnosed. Beacon Press, 2011.
- Brownlee S, Overtreated: Why Too Much Medicine Is Making Us Sicker and Poorer, Bloomsbury USA, 2008.
- Deyo RA, Patrick DL, Hope Or Hype: The Obsession with Medical Advances and the High Cost of False Promises, AMACO 2005.
- NHS choices: Your health, your choices. British site that touches on news coverage but focuses more on evaluating research upon which news is based. At http://www.nhs.uk/news/Pages/NewsIndex.aspx
Health Literacy from A to Z: Practical Ways to Communicate Your Health Message, Second Edition (Updated 2018), by Helen Osborne. Relevant chapters include: 11, 13.
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