Advancing Health Communication Research through the KCHC-DCHC Conference Series

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Abstract This R13 renewal application requests support to continue the highly successful Kentucky Conference on Health Communication (KCHC)—District of Columbia Health Communication (DCHC) scientific conference series. The overall goal of the annual KCHC-DCHC conferences is to promote health communication research and practice to advance our knowledge and understanding of communication and related social- behavioral sciences; such advances will, through translational research, subsequently enhance the effectiveness of interventions designed to promote health and prevent illness. The specific aims are to expand the impact and scholarly excellence of KCHC-DCHC by 1) enhancing dissemination through more formal conference proceedings and an innovative online networking initiative; 2) increasing participation by early career scientists, graduate students, and underrepresented groups through targeted recruitment and reduced registration rates for students; 3) enhancing training by building in structured mentoring sessions with senior scholars; 4) increasing innovation and opportunities for research translation by scheduling special sessions to promote academic and clinical research collaborations; 5) increasing international impact through opportunities for discussion built into conference programming and increased promotion in international arenas; and 6) continuing emphasis on scholarly excellence by inviting distinguished speakers and making scholarly awards. Across all six aims, our goal is to positively influence the field of health communication and increase its impact by promoting the career development of early career scientists, encouraging interdisciplinary research collaborations, and enhancing dissemination and implementation of leading research. Our 2.5-day international, interdisciplinary conference involves several disciplines representing communication, public health, and other social, behavioral, and health sciences. Topics addressed include interventions designed for health risk behavior reduction in areas such as cancer, substance abuse, and infectious disease; issues related to underserved populations, health disparities, and health literacy; interventions through interpersonal, community, media, and new technology channels; and international health concerns, including promoting the development of health communication programs in developing nations. Such communication- focused inquiry is now recognized as instrumental in promoting public health. Past conference attendance has averaged 250 participants. The audience primarily includes graduate, postdoctoral, and academic faculty researchers, as well as healthcare practitioners, clinical researchers, and representatives from non-profit organizations and government agencies. We emphasize participation by graduate students and early career scientists. This audience composition allows the conference series to support one of NIH's goals: “to develop, maintain, and renew scientific human…resources that will ensure the Nation's capability to prevent disease.”