Overview

Preconference: Thursday, April 7
Promoting Academic-Clinical Research Partnerships in Health Communication

Health communication is inherently interdisciplinary, informed not only by communication scientists who bring expertise in theories that describe, explain, and guide the creation of shared meaning through conversation but also clinicians who bring expertise in disease diagnosis and treatment and patient care. To advance health communication research and practice, we ideally would have interdisciplinary teams comprising academics and clinicians working together to tackle the tough questions in healthcare. Yet examples of such teams are relatively rare, communication scientists often face challenges gaining entre to clinical settings, and clinical researchers face limitations in the questions they can ask and answer without benefit of communication theory and methods. With such emphasis today on dissemination and implementation of evidence-based interventions to promote health and prevent disease, there is more need than ever to establish these partnerships. The purpose of the 2022 KCHC preconference is to begin to work on this challenge. In this one-day preconference, we will ask and begin to answer the following question: What steps do we need to take to develop a sustainable strategy to link academic communication researchers to clinical researchers/practitioners?

Our preconference program is currently under development by KCHC and DCHC program planners, a representative from the Department of GME and Clinical Research at Memorial Hospital at Gulfport, and representatives from the Academy of Communication in Healthcare. However, topics we anticipate addressing include the following:

• Successful Academic-Clinical Research in Action: Exemplar Teams Share their Experiences
• Communicating the Foundations of Communication Science to Clinical Audiences: What Clinicians Should Know About Communication Scientists and What We Have to Offer
• The Role of Undergraduate and Graduate Medical Education Programs in Promoting Academic-Clinical Research
• Competencies Communication Scientists Need for Conducting Research in a Clinical Setting
• Research Methods in Clinical Environments
• Practical Advice for Navigating Funding Opportunities, Budgets, and Institutional Review Boards for Clinical Collaborations
• Advancing Research Collaborations through the Academy of Communication in Healthcare

The day will be a combination of presentations, extended question and answer sessions, and interactive working group discussions.

Conference: Friday and Saturday, April 8-9
Communication Strategies to Promote Comprehensive Well-being

The 17th biennial Kentucky Conference on Health Communication will consist of two and a half days of competitive paper and panel presentations, a competitive poster session, and invited speaker presentations. Thursday, April 7, will be devoted to a preconference on Promoting Academic-Clinical Research Partnerships in Health Communication. Friday, April 8, will feature competitive paper, poster, and panel sessions covering not only issues related to the conference theme, Communication Strategies to Promote Comprehensive Well-being, but also issues pertinent to health communication research and practice broadly defined. The conference reception Friday evening offers participants an opportunity to relax after a full day of sessions. Saturday, April 9 will feature additional competitive paper, poster, and panel sessions and a luncheon presentation by the winner of the Lewis Donohew Outstanding Scholar in Health Communication Award.

Location
Hyatt Regency Lexington
401 West High Street
Lexington, KY 40507
859-253-1234