The Health Communication & Change and Communication & HIV/AIDS Working Groups of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) invites submissions for its open session at next year’s conference, to be held in Leicester, UK, from 27 - 31 July 2016.
Conference theme: "Memory, Commemoration and Communication: Looking Back, Looking Forward"
See the conference key dates and deadlines: http://iamcr.org/leicester2016/keydates
See all Calls for Papers for IAMCR 2016: http://iamcr.org/leicester2016/cfp
Visit the conference website: http://iamcr.org/leicester2016
Coinciding with the rapid advances in medical care and introduction of diagnostic tools, therapeutics, vaccines and host of other technologies for preventing and relieving human suffering due to disease, the application and the study of the role of communication in health has also developed and expanded exponentially in the last seven decades (since the World War II). Originally conceived in departments and schools of communication and sometimes in medical schools, health communication research and praxis were mostly operated at the periphery of public health. Perceived more as ‘art’ than ‘science’, communication was equated only with dissemination of findings by many public health professionals. Assuming a transdisciplinary nature, taking an ecological perspective with behaviour and social change orientation, often with audience-cantered philosophy, today, public health leaders realize that promoting health and protecting the public require both sound science and effective public health communication. For most of part of its history, health communication research mainly dealt with HIV/AIDS, smoking, substance abuse and road safety. In fact, many lessons learnt on the field in different countries, regions and communities dealing with these ‘important’ health issues have paved way for evolution of methods and models for dealing with other ‘less-talked-about’ issues. Today, communication is central to health promotion and disease prevention. The media environment characterized as it is by internet access to information, social media, and the transformation of the information sources is (re)shaping public health promotion policies and wider health communication practices in ways that invite further scholarly attention. Together with this, the new and ever changing global political alignments, the dilemmas of climate change, depleting food resources, poverty, strife and conflict have all been casting their influence on how actors in health communication form and project narratives and how the audiences interpret and interact with these narratives.
With its theme – ‘Memory, Commemoration and Communication: Looking Back, Looking Forward’ – IAMCR 2016 conference seeks to explore the relationship between memory, commemoration and communication. This presents a great opportunity for all of us to dwell on questions around what has shaped health communication processes, policies, research practices and conceptual frameworks in countries around the world, what shaped the health policy discourse in different countries, how the concepts of health and well-being have been changing in the public health discourse, what determined the use of various media, methods and messages in health communication programmes and so forth. Yes! Looking back into the bank of our memories, re-looking, re-telling and re-mediating health will have a lot to offer, share and move forward.
We invite papers and panel proposals in (but not limited to) the following areas:
- The changing health discourse in the context of changing media scenario
- The role of centres of authority and funding agencies in prioritizing health issues
- The communication dimensions of health policies
- Access to media and asymmetrical health information flows
- Marginalization and stigmatization in health & HIV/AIDS communication
- Structural drivers and social determinants of health
- Social media as health information source Intersections between health, HIV/AIDS and popular culture
- Emerging methodologies of research in Health and HIV/AIDS communication
- Health and HIV/AIDS Communication research and practice thus far and beyond
- Concepts and practices of health resistance
- Media portrayal of disability
- Health information availability, access and use by the differently-abled
We are interested in facilitating interactions between practitioners and researchers and sharing and creating strategies to increase the relevance and uptake of research findings.
We encourage papers from multiple disciplinary perspectives and are particularly interested in qualitative approaches and critical theoretical contributions. The sessions of the working groups will be organised to suit emerging themes from submitted abstracts.
Abstracts need to be around 300-500 words in length and should include the overall research objectives, theoretical framework, methodology and any implications for theory and/or practice.
Panel proposals are also welcome. Such proposals should provide a panel title, a framing text (with the overall idea of the panel in maximum 500 words) and short abstracts for the included papers with titles and authors. A panel chair and a discussant can also be proposed. The panel framing text and the individual paper abstracts need to be submitted separately and each individual abstract should include the title of the panel of which it is part.
The proposals should include: the name(s) of author(s) and professional title(s); institutional affiliation; and e-mail address/contact information. Early submission is encouraged.
Individual papers and panel proposals must be submitted through the online Open Conference System from 1 December 2015 – 15 February 2016. Early submission is strongly encouraged. There are to be no email submissions of abstracts addressed to any Section or Working Group Head.
It is expected that for the most part, only one (1) abstract will be submitted per person for consideration by the Conference. However, under no circumstances should there be more than two (2) abstracts bearing the name of the same applicant either individually or as part of any group of authors. Please note also that the same abstract or another version with minor variations in title or content must not be submitted to other Sections or Working Groups of the Association for consideration, after an initial submission. Such submissions will be deemed to be in breach of the conference guidelines and will be automatically rejected by the Open Conference System, by the relevant Head or by the Conference Programme Reviewer. Such applicants risk being removed entirely from the conference programme.
Upon submission of an abstract, you will be asked to confirm that your submission is original and that it has not been previously published in the form presented. You will also be given an opportunity to declare if your submission is currently before another conference for consideration.
Presenters are expected to bring fully developed work to the conference. However, we also welcome submissions related to works in progress, so long as there is evidence of considered methodological or theoretical engagement. We see the conference as a useful opportunity for both emerging and more established colleagues to learn from each other in developing their work. Prior to the conference, it is expected that a completed paper will be submitted to Section, Working Group, Session Chairs, and/or Discussants.
Key dates and deadlines
- 1 December 2015 Open Computer System (OCS) available for abstract submission
- 15 February 2016 Deadline for submissions
- 1 April 2016 Notification of acceptances of abstracts
- 15 April 2016 Deadline to apply for travel grants and awards
- 28 April 2016 Deadline to confirm your participation
- 20 May 2016 Last day to register at discounted early-bird fee
- 30 June 2016 Deadline for full paper submission
- 7 July 2016 Final conference programme published on the website
- 27-31 July 2016 IAMCR 2016 Conference
Health Communication & Change and Communication & HIV/AIDS Working Groups
Chairs:
SubbaRao M Gavaravarapu
gmsubbarao(at)yahoo.com
Nanna Engebretsen
nanna.engebretsen(at)hil.no
Vice-Chairs:
Kate Holland
kate.holland(at)canberra.edu.au
Ravindra Kumar Vemula
rkvemula(at)gmail.com
Yolanda Paul
yolandapaul(at)gmail.com
See the conference key dates and deadlines: http://iamcr.org/leicester2016/keydates
See all Calls for Papers for IAMCR 2016: http://iamcr.org/leicester2016/cfp
Visit the conference website: http://iamcr.org/leicester2016