Communication for Health Promotion & Impact

Part of Victoria University's Healthy & Inclusive Communities program, the Communication for Health Promotion & Impact research group is a collaboration of health researchers, communication researchers, policy advisers, industry professionals and community organisation members who work together to improve health communication.

The group also utilises their expertise to increase research impact, reach and translation in health through cutting edge communication research and practice.

Communication for Health Promotion & Impact research

The Communication for Health Promotion and Impact research group recognises the importance of the social and demographic determinants of health, and the need to address these determinants in designing effective health communication.

The research group acknowledges the need to engage community and industry stakeholders in their work. Hallmarks of their approach are consultation, collaboration, and co-design to engage with communities to develop meaningful and inclusive health communication interventions. 

They bring together leading researchers, industry groups and diverse communities to collaboratively:

  • study health communication issues
  • inform policy related to health communication
  • design and implement effective health communication and promotion strategies and campaigns.

The research group is currently leading a series of projects that provide the entertainment industry with accurate and up-to-date information for storylines on health in recognition of the profound impact that stories and entertainment have on audience knowledge and behavior.

Research areas

The group's researchers are experienced leaders in studying and informing policy, programs, and campaigns related to:

  • health promotion through storytelling
  • health communication and the arts
  • combatting health misinformation, disinformation and misrepresentation
  • maximising research impact in health through innovative dissemination approaches
  • promoting public health through the development and delivery of effective communication approaches
  • digital technologies and platforms for health promotion
  • evaluating the effectiveness of health communication
  • media representation, health and ethics
  • other areas of health communication, health promotion, and health education and policy.

Research projects

Examples of current and recent research projects include:

  • Victoria University (VU) funded study of screen-based entertainment narrative on health related outcomes
  • the design and evaluation of a screen-based health messaging framework
  • immersive theatre as a health promotion approach
  • an assessment of the efficacy of advisement campaigns of smoking and identification of the mechanism driving changes in behavior
  • the design and implementation of accreditation to allow consumers to know if information presented in media sources contains accurate health information.

Our team