HEALTH COMMUNICATION WORKING GROUP - CALL FOR PROPOSALS 2022

The Health Communication (HEC) Working Group of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) invites the submission of proposals for papers and panels for IAMCR 2022, which will be held online from 11 to 15 July 2022. The conference will also have a national hub at Tsinghua University in Beijing. The deadline for submission is 9 February 2022, at 23.59 UTC.

See the CfPs of all sections and working groups >

Conference Themes

IAMCR conferences have a main conference theme (with several sub-themes) that is explored from multiple perspectives throughout the conference in plenaries, in the programmes of our sections and working groups, and in the Flow34 virtual cinema and podcasts stream. They also have many themes defined by our 33 thematic sections and working groups. Proposals submitted to sections and working groups may be centered on an aspect of the main conference theme as it relates to the central concerns of the section or working group, or they may address the additional themes identified by the section or working group in their individual calls for proposals.

The main theme for IAMCR 2022, “Communication Research in the Era of Neo-Globalisation: Reorientations, Challenges and Changing Contexts,” is concerned with possibilities for rethinking communication research agendas in the post-pandemic world, which has seen dramatic shifts in the way we interact and understand our physical, social, cultural, political and material environments.

Eight sub-themes of this central theme have been identified: Reorienting Media and Communication Research in the Era of Neo-Globalisation; Artificial Intelligence in Global Communication Contexts; Cultural Identities and Dis-Identities in the Era of Neo-Globalisation; Communication for Sustainability: Climate Change, Environment, and Health; Media Ethics and Principles in the Digital Age; Media, Communication, and the Construction of Global Public Health; Data/Digital Science and Intercultural Communication; Digital Platforms and Public Service: Science, Technology and Sustainability. See the complete theme description and rationale here.

In the neo-globalized world where virtually everything is connected across the spectra of global politics, communications, technologies, finances and people. In particular, the contextual and cultural discourses on public health, disease and wellness have been shaped by the interlinkages between markets, politics and health. While the roles of public-private partnerships, growing hyper-nationalism, newer global alliances, health tourism and health diplomacy must be explored in detail, the sudden change in scenarios the pandemic had hurled at us has certainly reshaped many taken-for-granted assumptions that constituted the foundations of health and health communication. The global pandemic of COVID-19 and post-pandemic era of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity call for the reorientation of health communication research and practices and pose urgent questions and challenges for health communications scholars. Given this background, the Health Communication (HEC) Working Group seeks proposals for health communication research and practice connected, but not limited to the main theme and sub-themes of the conference.  What are the roles of media and communication in the construction of a global public health community? How does the digitalization of (ill)health alter the communication of health promotion and health care communication including interactions between a care provider and a receiver? How is the pandemic of COVID-19 mediatized? What do the debates around vaccinations, vaccine hesitancy, vaccine diplomacy have to offer for health communication? What is the impact of the information overabundance? How people navigate through the onslaught of misinformation, disinformation, fake news and imposter content?

The working group is interested in facilitating interactions between practitioners, researchers and academics to increase the understanding of this changing communicative landscape of health communication theory and practice for knowledge sharing/exchange

Abstracts can reflect on (but not limited to) the following topics:

• Theoretical perspective of reorientation of health communication
• Global and/or local reorientation of health promotion and health campaigns
• Reorientation of health journalism and digital media
• Mediatization of the pandemic COVID-19
• Technology and digitization of reorientating health communication

Guidelines for abstracts

Abstracts are requested for the Online Conference Papers component. Abstracts submitted to the Health Communication Working Group should have between 300 and 500 words and must be submitted online at https://iamcr2022.exordo.com. Abstracts submitted by email will not be accepted.

The deadline to submit abstracts is 9 February 2022 at 23h59 UTC.

See important dates and deadlines to keep in mind

It is expected that authors will submit only one (1) abstract. However, under no circumstances should there be more than two (2) abstracts bearing the name of the same author, either individually or as first author. No more than one 1 abstract can be submitted by an author to the Health Communication Working Group. Please note also that the same abstract or another version with minor variations in title or content must not be submitted to more than one section or working group. Any such submissions will be deemed to be in breach of the conference guidelines and will be rejected.

Proposals are accepted for both single Papers and for Panels with several papers (in which you propose multiple papers that address a single theme). Please note that there are special procedures for submitting panel proposals. You can find the detailed procedures when submitting your abstract online in the abstract submission system.

If your abstract is accepted, you will need to submit your full conference paper (1,000 to 4,000 words) by 7 June 2022, to be included in the programme.

Evaluation Criteria

Submitted abstracts will generally be evaluated based on:

• Theoretical contribution
• Methods
• Quality of writing
• Literature review
• Relevance of the proposal to the work of the Section or Working Group
• Originality and/or significance

Languages

We encourage submission of abstracts for individual papers and panels in English. 

For further information about the conference contact beijing2022 [at] iamcr.org

For further information about the Health Communication Working Group, its themes, submissions and multi-paper sessions please contact:

Co-Chair: SubbaRao M Gavaravarapu - subbarao.gm [at] icmr.gov.in

Co-Chair: Yolanda Paul – yolandapaul [at] gmail.com

Vice chair: Sinikka Torkkola - sinikka.torkkola [at] tuni.fi

Vice chair: Eliza Govender - Govendere1 [at] ukzn.ac.za