Rethinking Theory, Research and Practice
As part of the IAMCR Webinar Series, the Health Communication Working Group will be hosting the webinar "Health Communication at the crossroads", aiming to engage in a robust dialogue towards thinking the theory, research and practice of health communication in the ever changing times.
Date and time: Tuesday 29 October @ 13h00 UTC / 13h00 London / 14h00 Paris / 16h00 Nairobi / 18h30 Kolkata / 21h00 Beijing.
Pre-registration is required by 27 October, 2024. Register here.
Description
From its nascent beginning over 50 years ago, the discipline of health communication has expanded in scope, thinking and practice. Across the globe, universities have established courses in health communication or are teaching topics related to social and behaviour change communication as part of their curriculum. Development agencies have engaged the field from different angles and for a variety of health issues or problems. However, the discipline has been challenged and tested by a plethora of developments and intersecting dynamics. More than ever before, health communication principles and approaches are needed to address the myriad of global public health problems confronting humanity. Today, health communication is at an epistemic crossroad which calls for fresh and innovative cross disciplinary thinking, grounded in evidence informed praxis. This crossroad is also a point of convergence, divergence and re-convergence; a place of continuity and discontinuity and alternative configurations for a new future.
Therefore, the field needs a critical moment of reflection to reset and disrupt itself for greater effectiveness. Such disruption requires a profound rethinking of the history, an appraisal of its current practice and the development of new pathways for the future. Such conversations are fundamental in the lead up to the 2025 IAMCR Conference in Singapore themed: Communicating Environmental Justice: Many Voices, One Planet!
Chair: Adebayo Fayoyin, Wits School of Public Health, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Caleb University, Lagos, Nigeria
Moderator: Eliza Govender, Associate Professor and Head of Department: Culture, Communication and Media Studies, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Speakers (read speaker bios below)
- Mohan J Dutta, Dean's Chair Professor of Communication, Director of the Center for Culture-Centered, Approach to Research and Evaluation (CARE)
- Warren Feek, Executive Director, The Communication Initiative Network and Partnership
- Ama de- Graft Aikin, Professor of Social Psychology, The Regional Institute for Population Studies, University of Ghana and Visiting Professor, Department of Methodology, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
- Cassia Ayres, Regional Manager of Social & Behaviour Change & Social Sciences Researcher, UNICEF Panama
- Rafael Obregon, Country representative, UNICEF Nicaragua
Registration
Pre-registration is required by 27 October, 2024. Register here.
Location: The meeting will take place on Zoom. Pre-registered participants will receive personal invitations 24 hours before the webinar begins.
Who can participate: The webinar is open to all IAMCR members but space is restricted. A limited number of guest invitations for non-members may be available. Fill out this form to request being added to the guest list. Questions? Contact info@iamcr.org
Not sure if you're a member? Check the membership directory.
If you are not a member of IAMCR, you can join here.
Speaker bios
Eliza Govender
A South African rated researcher, Associate Professor and Academic Leader of the Centre for Communication, Media and Society (CCMS), in the School of Applied Human Sciences at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. She is an internationally recognised researcher in the field of health communication from a communication for social change perspective
Adebayo Fayoyin - Webinar Moderator
Prof. Adebayo Fayoyin is an expert in development communication, media systems and policy advocacy with over three decades years of professional experience in designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating social and behaviour change communication interventions for different agencies including USAID, UNFPA, UNICEF, IPPF and Save the Children. His current institutional affiliations include Wits School of Public Health, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and Caleb University, Lagos Nigeria. He is also team lead for Africa Society for Social and Behavior Change.
Mohan J Dutta
He is Dean's Chair Professor of Communication and Director of the Center for Culture-Centered Approach to Research and Evaluation (CARE), developing culturally-centered, community-based projects of social change, advocacy, and activism that articulate health as a human right. Mohan Dutta's research examines the role of advocacy and activism in challenging marginalizing structures, the relationship between poverty and health, political economy of global health policies, the mobilization of cultural tropes for the justification of neo-colonial health development projects, and the ways in which participatory culture-centered processes and strategies of radical democracy serve as axes of global social change.
Warren Feek
Executive Director of The Communication Initiative Network and Partnership, a network of 100,000 people using media, communication, social and behaviour change strategies to address priority local, national and international Development issues. The CI focus is across all Development issues, from Democracy and Governance to HIV/AIDS; the full spectrum of communication strategies, from entertainment-education to community engagement; and the range of media, from digital to local cultural forms.
Ama de- Graft Aikin
Ama de-Graft Aikins is a Professor of Social Psychology at the Regional Institute for Population Studies, University of Ghana and a Visiting Professor at the Department of Methodology, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Ama’s research focuses on chronic illness representations, experiences and care, and the social, cultural and health systems aspects of Africa’s chronic non-communicable disease (NCD) burden. She also has a strong interest in the history of psychology in Africa and its intersections with critical theory and African studies.
Cassia Ayres, PhD
UNICEF Regional Manager of Social & Behaviour Change & Social Sciences Researcher (Panama). Innovative SBC - Communication & Research professional with 20 years of experience in the development sector ranging from UN agencies, private businesses, non-profit organizations and government institutions between Brazil, Angola, England, Finland, Thailand, Portugal, Afghanistan and the Latin America & the Caribbean countries. Cassia has demonstrated track record portfolio in Risk Communication and Community Engagement, COVID-19 response/Infodemic Management, research design, strategy implementation and M&E in emergency contexts.
Rafael Obregon
Dr. Obregón has an extensive career in international development and public health. He is currently the UNICEF Country Representative in Nicaragua, and previously held the same position (2019-2024) in Paraguay. Prior to his role as country representative, he served as the UNICEF´s Global Chief of Communication for Development in the Programme Division, New York, providing policy and technical leadership and guidance on the development of standards and quality assurance across programmatic and humanitarian work. Previous roles include Health Communication Advisor at the Regional Office for the Americas, Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), Associate Professor at Ohio University´s School of Media Arts & Studies and Director of the M.A. in Communication for Development, Associate Professor at Universidad del Norte, Colombia, and consultant for several international development agencies in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
About the series: The IAMCR Webinar Series aims to open-up channels for engagement and participation in addition to the annual conference, while echoing the great work that is done by Sections, Working Groups and IAMCR members. The series includes presentations, debates, book and project launches. The format is flexible, the connection is what matters. Join us!