Health professionals must use the power of communication and media to mobilize patients to adopt “healthy behaviors”, as well as to draw the attention of those who influence or design health policies, on the important health issues and to bring these issues for public consultation. Which health communication strategies, which IT technologies, which technologies of image and sound, which tools and media channels should we adopt to improve outcomes in population health and quality of health and healthcare? What is needed for children, for the young, for old age?

A key challenge facing health professionals is to mobilize the power of health communication to empower individuals to adopt healthy behaviors, to direct policy makers’ attention to important health issues, and to frame those issues for public debate. Use health communication strategies and health information technology or media to improve population health outcomes and health care quality.

Ideas about health and behaviors are shaped by the communication, information, and technology that people interact with every day. Health communication and health information technology (IT) or media tools are central to health care, public health, and the way our society views health. These processes make up the ways and the context in which professionals and the public search for, understand, and use health information, significantly impacting their health decisions and actions.

The challenge is how to use health communication strategies through media and health information technology to improve population health outcomes and health care quality.

To address this challenge, the MIT HACKING MEDICINE ATHENS will help participants to investigate the field of health communication and public health by researching and analyzing the contributions of health communication to behavior change and policy, by preparing future health leaders to utilize communication strategies, and by strengthening communication between journalists and health professionals. The objectives in this topic area describe many ways health communication and health IT or media can have a positive impact on health, health care, and health equity. For instance, the following can improve:

  • health care quality and safety
  • Providing personalized self-management tools and resources
  • Increasing health literacy skills
  • Increase the efficiency of health care and public health service delivery
  • Improve the public health information infrastructure
  • Support care in the community and at home
  • Facilitate clinical and consumer decision-making
  • Build health skills and knowledge
The following resources have been compiled to help familiarize solvers with health communications issues. These resources are intended to serve as examples of relevant back ground materials.

HEALTH DATABASES

  • AMED (Allied and Complementary Medicine) Database
    Covers a selection of journals in complementary ("alternative") medicine (CAM), palliative care, and several other allied professions, 1985 - present.
  • EMBASE
    Provides current and comprehensive information on drugs and pharmacology, and all other aspects of human medicine and related disciplines. Covers over 2,000 biomedical titles not currently offered by MEDLINE.
  • Global Health
    Global Health consists of more than 1.2 million record. Research content covering public health, tropical and communicable diseases, nutrition, helminthology, entomology and mycology.
  • Cochrane Library
    Regularly updated collection of evidence-based medicine databases.
  • Health and Psychosocial Instruments
    Access to information on measurement instruments in the health fields, psychosocial sciences, organizational behavior, and library and information science. HAPI helps identify measures needed for research studies, grant proposals, client/patient assessment, class papers/projects, theses, and program evaluation.
  • Health Business Fulltext
    Provides full-text coverage of more than 130 well-known health and life sciences business journals such as Bioworld Week, H&HN: Hospitals & Health Networks, Health Management Technology, Modern Healthcare, and many others. Covers staffing, health care regulation, health care facilities management, marketing, finance, etc.
  • HealthSTAR/OVID Healthstar
    Contains citations to the published literature on health services, technology, administration, and research. It focuses on both the clinical and non-clinical aspects of health care delivery. The following topics are included: evaluation of patient outcomes; effectiveness of procedures, programs, products, services and processes; administration and planning of health facilities, services and manpower; health insurance; health policy; health services research; health economics and financial management; laws and regulation; personnel administration; quality assurance; licensure; and accreditation.
  • MedlinePlus
    Premier database for bibliographic coverage of biomedical literature. MEDLINE encompasses information from Index Medicus, Index to Dental Literature, and International Nursing Index, as well as other sources of coverage in the areas of allied health, biological and physical sciences, humanities and information science as they relate to medicine and health care, communication disorders, population biology, and reproductive biology.
  • PubMed Plus
    PubMed is the public access version to Medline, the premier database for biomedical literature. PubMedPlus is an enhanced version with links to full-text journals that the Penn Library subscribes to. Once the "Log-in" is completed, any full-text articles to which Penn Libraries subscribe will become available within the PubMed system by clicking on the Penn Text icon. The MEDLINE database is widely recognized as the premier source for bibliographic coverage of biomedical literature. The PubMed version of MEDLINE includes the PREMEDLINE database, which provides very current basic citation information and abstracts before the full records are prepared and added to MEDLINE.

Journals

Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

Compass: 
https://www.thecompassforsbc.org/how-to-guides

About MIT Hacking Medicine Hackathon

in Athens


HACKATHON is a methodology tool for creative collaboration of diverse stakeholders to resolve challenges through a common effort. In the first MIT Hacking Medicine HACKATHON of Athens, starting on Friday evening and ending on Sunday afternoon, Feb. 22-24, 2019, participants will seek innovative solutions for the promotion of HEALTH LITERACY for all and new models for HEALTH COMMUNICATION.