Since the elderly are a significant population of health care consumers, health care professionals should be trained to deliver health services to them as effectively and humanely as possible. While the primary tool for delivery of health care services to people is human communication, there is evidence that the communication between the providers…

One area of communication education that is ripe for growth is that of health communication, where human communication knowledge is adapted to the demands of health care practice. The development of interdisciplinary communication programs such as curricula in health communication can begin to bridge the gap in knowledge between different…

An approach to structuring and teaching health communication to health practitioners is presented in this paper. Following an introduction to the need for instruction in health communication, a general course description is provided, the course's purposes are discussed, and course goals are listed. The remainder of the paper contains descriptions…