Reducing Health Disparities

Over the last five decades, the gap between the haves and have-nots has consistently increased in the realm of access to healthcare services among different sectors of society: from quality of healthcare services, access to health supplies, technologies, and usage of health information and health prevention services, to vulnerability to certain types of diseases and health outcomes. Against this backdrop this edited collection – the first of its kind – uses the framework of communication in order to understand the underlying dimensions of health disparities and the communicative processes, policies, methodologies, and messages that are deployed with the goal of increasing access, improving quality, and addressing the underlying causes.

Author Biography

Mohan J. Dutta (PhD, University of Minnesota) is Professor and Head of the Department of Communications and New Media and Founding Director of the Center for Culture-Centered Approach to Research Evaluation at the National University of Singapore. He has been awarded the Lewis Donohew Award for research excellence in health communication and the University Scholar Award for research productivity from Purdue University. Gary L. Kreps (PhD, University of Southern California) is a University Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Communication at George Mason University where he directs the Center for Health and Risk Communication. His research, reported in more than 350 books and articles, has received broad recognition, including the ICA/NCA Outstanding Health Communication Scholar Award and the ECA Centennial Health Communication Scholar Award.