Health communication is a relatively new and multidisciplinary field, which includes the study and use of communication to inform and affect individuals decisions and the community to improve the quality of health. Effective communication provides, indeed, a crucial contribution to health promotion, as well as diseases prevention and management.
The Institute of Communication and Health exploits the field of communication sciences for both theoretical and applied research aimed at the preservation and development of individual health, and through social and corporate programs for the promotion of health, well-being and social policies.
The Institute bases its research on the interdisciplinary integration between humanistic tradition and social sciences. This strategy is the basis for a quality approach in the studies of the health sector with conceptual and empirical implications.
In addition, the ICH offers an excellent PhD program in Communication and Health financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation, a Master in Communication, Management and Health in collaboration with Virginia Tech University (Blacksburg, Virginia, USA) and several formation courses for students and health professionals pertaining to the discipline’s study and practice.
The ICH currently is currently made up of 38 members, including professors, researchers, PhD students and scientific collaborators.