If approved, this program would represent an unprecedented commitment to the previously understudied, undervalued, and underresourced field of health communication science. In July 2022, a well-articulated Advancing Health Communication Science and Practice program proposal was presented by the NIH Common Fund to the IC directors. It featured the following language:Effective health communication is a complex and multi-factored process that is critical to a wide variety of health outcomes of interest across the NIH. This proposed Common Fund program will support a synergistic and cross-cutting health communication research program to address critical gaps applicable to NIH’s mission, and will develop and implement health communication approaches for positive and equitable health outcomes. The forces behind the termination of the Advancing Health Communication Science and Practice program before it even began represent a fundamental threat to science, medicine, and public health.

Source: New York Times July 31, 2023 15:51 UTC