Doreen Reifegerste

• Professor
• Professor at Bielefeld University

Background The suicide rate among men exceeds that of women worldwide. One important measure in suicide prevention for men is digital communication interventions, as they enable easy and anonymous access to information resources. This is especially important for men who might not be reached by traditional, in-person prevention methods. Thus, as par...

Background Key informant interviews (KII) are a widely used method in qualitative health research to gain in-depth insights from individuals with specialized knowledge, experience, or access that is crucial to the research topic. However, there is growing criticism regarding how the selection of key informants is insufficiently described in researc...

Introduction Precarious milieus more frequently suffer from environmental risks and show lower environmental awareness and behavior than other milieus in the German population. This study investigates the factors that influence environmental awareness in precarious milieus and the roles of environmental knowledge and the perception of environment-r...

Background: Despite men’s high suicide risk, gender perspectives in suicide prevention research are scarce. Aims: The goal of this systematic review was to describe the desirable and adverse effects of distribution channels and message strategies of communicative suicide prevention interventions among men. Methods: Databases PubMed and Web of Scien...

Zusammenfassung Hintergrund Eine Demenzdiagnose bedeutet eine hohe Belastung für die Betroffenen und ihre Angehörigen. Häufig müssen schwierige Entscheidungen getroffen werden. Idealerweise treffen Menschen mit einer neuen Demenzdiagnose informierte Entscheidungen gemeinsam mit Angehörigen. Im Vorfeld einer informierten Entscheidung sind digitale...

BACKGROUND The suicide rate among men exceeds that of women worldwide. One important measure in suicide prevention for men is digital communication interventions, as they enable easy and anonymous access to information resources. This is especially important for men who might not be reached by traditional, in-person prevention methods. Thus, as par...

Research suggests that non-disclosure of mental distress is associated with poorer mental health. While men are more reluctant to communicate about personal issues with informal and professional social contacts, little is known about the reasons for and factors associated with non-disclosure among men and women. Based on the Disclosure Decision-Mak...

Background Clinical empathy is considered a crucial element in patient-centered care. The advent of digital technology in healthcare has introduced new dynamics to empathy which needs to be explored in the context of the technology, particularly within the context of written live chats. Given the growing prevalence of written live chats, this study...

Communication about health issues in everyday life, the media and the professional contexts of prevention and healthcare is of great importance. This textbook provides a vivid insight into the central content of and research areas within the field of health communication. Hence, it forms an ideal basis for lectures and seminars that deal with this...

Communication about health issues in everyday life, the media and the professional contexts of prevention and healthcare is of great importance. This textbook provides a vivid insight into the central content of and research areas within the field of health communication. Hence, it forms an ideal basis for lectures and seminars that deal with this...

Communication about health issues in everyday life, the media and the professional contexts of prevention and healthcare is of great importance. This textbook provides a vivid insight into the central content of and research areas within the field of health communication. Hence, it forms an ideal basis for lectures and seminars that deal with this...

Communication about health issues in everyday life, the media and the professional contexts of prevention and healthcare is of great importance. This textbook provides a vivid insight into the central content of and research areas within the field of health communication. Hence, it forms an ideal basis for lectures and seminars that deal with this...

Communication about health issues in everyday life, the media and the professional contexts of prevention and healthcare is of great importance. This textbook provides a vivid insight into the central content of and research areas within the field of health communication. Hence, it forms an ideal basis for lectures and seminars that deal with this...

Communication about health issues in everyday life, the media and the professional contexts of prevention and healthcare is of great importance. This textbook provides a vivid insight into the central content of and research areas within the field of health communication. Hence, it forms an ideal basis for lectures and seminars that deal with this...

Communication about health issues in everyday life, the media and the professional contexts of prevention and healthcare is of great importance. This textbook provides a vivid insight into the central content of and research areas within the field of health communication. Hence, it forms an ideal basis for lectures and seminars that deal with this...

Communication about health issues in everyday life, the media and the professional contexts of prevention and healthcare is of great importance. This textbook provides a vivid insight into the central content of and research areas within the field of health communication. Hence, it forms an ideal basis for lectures and seminars that deal with this...

Communication about health issues in everyday life, the media and the professional contexts of prevention and healthcare is of great importance. This textbook provides a vivid insight into the central content of and research areas within the field of health communication. Hence, it forms an ideal basis for lectures and seminars that deal with this...

Communication about health issues in everyday life, the media and the professional contexts of prevention and healthcare is of great importance. This textbook provides a vivid insight into the central content of and research areas within the field of health communication. Hence, it forms an ideal basis for lectures and seminars that deal with this...

Communication about health issues in everyday life, the media and the professional contexts of prevention and healthcare is of great importance. This textbook provides a vivid insight into the central content of and research areas within the field of health communication. Hence, it forms an ideal basis for lectures and seminars that deal with this...

Communication about health issues in everyday life, the media and the professional contexts of prevention and healthcare is of great importance. This textbook provides a vivid insight into the central content of and research areas within the field of health communication. Hence, it forms an ideal basis for lectures and seminars that deal with this...

Communication about health issues in everyday life, the media and the professional contexts of prevention and healthcare is of great importance. This textbook provides a vivid insight into the central content of and research areas within the field of health communication. Hence, it forms an ideal basis for lectures and seminars that deal with this...

Communication about health issues in everyday life, the media and the professional contexts of prevention and healthcare is of great importance. This textbook provides a vivid insight into the central content of and research areas within the field of health communication. Hence, it forms an ideal basis for lectures and seminars that deal with this...

Communication about health issues in everyday life, the media and the professional contexts of prevention and healthcare is of great importance. This textbook provides a vivid insight into the central content of and research areas within the field of health communication. Hence, it forms an ideal basis for lectures and seminars that deal with this...

Rationale: Making informed decisions in the sense of shared decision-making (SDM) as a representative of someone with dementia who lacks decision-making capacity is a great challenge and has not yet been modeled and empirically tested. Objective: A newly developed integrative model is introduced and empirically tested that collects from the existin...

A dementia diagnosis means a high burden, for the people with dementia as well as for their relatives, difficult decisions have to be made. Relatives are often involved, and the search for information begins for the people with the new dementia diagnosis, their relatives, and other potential representative decision-makers. Digital information mater...

To explore the information behavior in the context of child injury prevention, we conducted online focus groups with parents, professional caregivers, and intermediaries as part of a larger project. In this paper, we discuss our qualitative interview design: audiovisual, synchronous online focus groups. To do so, we analyze a crucial methodological...

Background: An important prerequisite for actively engaging in cancer prevention and early detection measures, which is particularly recommended in cases of familial cancer risk, is the acquisition of information. Although a lot of cancer information is available, not all social groups are equally well reached because information needs and communi...

While several studies have explored the use of mobile health applications, few have observed determinants of mobile health information behavior. To develop a model explaining parents' mobile information behavior on child poisoning prevention, we first explored relevant theories to suggest a theoretical model. In that, we combine existing models on...

Zusammenfassung Die Weltgesundheitsorganisation (WHO) hat aufgrund wissenschaftlicher Ergebnisse die Richtwerte zur Luftqualität 2021 verschärft. Es wurde eine deutliche Absenkung der Jahresmittelwerte von Feinstaub (Partikelgröße 2,5 µm oder kleiner, PM 2,5 ) sowie der Langzeitbelastung gegenüber Stickstoffdioxid (NO 2 ) und Ozon (O 3 ) empfohlen....

Der vorliegende Beitrag führt in die akademische Lehre in der noch jungen und sich zunehmend etablierenden Disziplin der Gesundheitskommunikation ein. Dabei werden zentrale Herausforderungen und Chancen im Lehrkontext adressiert – auf struktureller Ebene (Lehrsettings) sowie hinsichtlich der zu vermittelnden Theorien und Methoden – um die zentrale...

When news stories cover health and illness, they often address issues of responsibility. These responsibility frames can affect recipients' responsibility beliefs (i.e. attributions) and thereby indirectly affect emotions and motivation to support people affected by health problems. To date, it is not fully understood how responsibility frames affe...

Zusammenfassung Zu Beginn der COVID-19-Pandemie reagierte der Großteil der betroffenen Länder mit Maßnahmen, die das öffentliche Leben weitgehend einschränkten. Gleichzeitig baten Politiker:innen und andere gesellschaftliche Akteur:innen die Menschen, Abstand zu halten und zu Hause zu bleiben. Vor diesem Hintergrund stellt sich die Frage, wer für U...

Although frame building is a crucial part of framing in health communication, it is much less understood than media frames or their effects on audiences (i.e. frame setting). To address this research gap, we analyzed the individual, organizational, and external factors of influence contributing to the media's portrayal of responsibility for two maj...

Self-tracking technologies have been regarded both very optimistic and very critical. However, these conclusions are often based on single application studies and lack empirical evidence on actual self-tracking usage. We set out to identify types of self-tracking usage based on users’ mobile media ensembles and their varying levels of engagement wi...

Dementia is currently one of the most significant public health challenges from a medical as well as a societal perspective. The number of people living with dementia is increasing, and there is conflicting evidence in terms of preventive measures and risk factors. The available therapies can slow down but neither stop nor reverse the condition. Ed...

Investigating effects of responsibility frames regarding depression on social media is of high relevance for communication science. This results from the fact that responsibility attributions in the media can have consequences for the (de)stigmatization of the mental disorder. This paper examines the effects of three responsibility frames (individu...

Dementia is a challenge for society, and care provision in particular is a major task. People with dementia are often cared for at home, and the professional care situation in Germany is tensed – for example, relatives are often involved in care themselves or provide care alone, which means a high physical and psychological burden. Despite their im...

BACKGROUND Even through various global health crises, the prevention and handling of unintentional childhood injuries remains an important public health objective. While several systematic reviews already examined the effectiveness of different types of child injury prevention measures, these reviews did not address the evaluation of mobile communi...

Background Despite various global health crises, the prevention and handling of unintentional childhood injuries remains an important public health objective. Although several systematic reviews have examined the effectiveness of different child injury prevention measures, these reviews did not address the evaluation of mobile communication interve...

Junge Erwachsene mit Krebs sind besonders herausgefordert, ihre Er- krankung zu managen. Zum einen haben sie mit verschiedenen (langfristigen) Begleiter- scheinungen der Therapie zu rechnen, zum anderen finden sie – weil ihr Problem altersun- typisch ist – kaum psychosoziale Unterstützung innerhalb der Gesundheitsversorgung und dem privaten Umfeld....

Visuell präsentierte Belege werden in der Wissenschaftskommunikation nicht nur zur Veranschaulichung von wissenschaftlichen Zusammenhängen genutzt, sondern sie stehen mitunter auch stellvertretend für die Evidenz demonstrierter Sachverhalte und suggerieren Objektivität. Verschiedene (visuelle) Evidenzpraktiken können unterschieden werden, welche al...

BACKGROUND An important prerequisite for actively engaging in cancer prevention and early detection measures, which is particularly recommended in cases of familial cancer risk, is the acquisition of information. Although a lot of cancer information is available, not all social groups are equally well reached because information needs and communica...

BACKGROUND Trust is of great importance in situations marked by risk and uncertainty. A suspected or confirmed familial cancer risk is associated with great fear and uncertainty. Here, seeking for online health information can be a coping strategy for patients, relatives and those suspecting an elevated risk. However, there is a myriad of online ca...

Background In dealing with familial cancer risk, seeking web-based health information can be a coping strategy for different stakeholder groups (ie, patients, relatives, and those suspecting an elevated familial cancer risk). In the vast digital landscape marked by a varied quality of web-based information and evolving technologies, trust emerges a...

Visuals remain understudied in health-related framing research. On Instagram, users who have been patients of long-term health conditions, such as type 1 diabetes (T1D), and who regularly share their experiences with a wider audience, that is, patient influencers, have become an increasingly important source of health information. Both their verbal...

Responsibility framing research on health issues typically investigates the attribution of responsibility for causes and treatment options to either the individual or society. However, social epidemiological perspectives also stress the relevance of an individual's social network and underline that the three levels of responsibility (individual, so...

Das Gesundheitswesen ist geprägt von Komplexität und Wandlungsprozessen mit einem Zusammenspiel aus medizinischen, gemeinwohlorientierten und wirtschaftlichen Werten. Als Zielgruppe verdienen Angehörige eine besondere Beachtung, da sie u. a. als informelle Einweisende und Multiplikatorinnen und Multiplikatoren für Kliniken agieren. Allerdings wurde...

Social appeals are a form of messages that aim to promote public health by referring to the social consequences of health behavior. That means they refer to: (i) the appreciation of individuals' health by others; (ii) the influence of health behavior on affiliation to others; or (iii) the responsibility for others' health. This entry provides an ov...

This entry provides a description of the development of health communication in Europe and covers how it became visible in academic organizations in Europe such as the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA). While health communication as a field was already regarded as an established discipline in the United States by the...

This chapter provides an overview about common methodological designs and constructs employed to examine the contents of health coverage and points out current research desiderata.

Zusammenfassung Hintergrund Betreuungspersonen von Kindern unter 7 Jahren, etwa (Groß‑)Eltern oder medizinisches und pädagogisches Personal, sind wichtige Zielgruppen für Kommunikationsmaßnahmen in der Kinderunfallprävention. Um sie zu identifizieren und zu erreichen, können Multiplikatoren aus ihren Reihen (Peers und Professionals) oder Multiplik...

Although health matters are commonly discussed in various social contexts, health-related interpersonal communication still remains a black box in health communication research. Bringing together research from the fields of health communication and interpersonal communication, we therefore examine how people communicate about health and illness in...

Crisis communication in a pandemic is challenging for parents, who have to explain risks and prevention measures to their children without transferring their own worries. Studies about crises indicate, that inappropriate crisis communication with children can ignite fears, worries, and even trauma among them. Recommended parental communication stra...

Digitale Selbstvermessung (Self-Tracking) ist integraler Bestandteil vieler digitaler gesundheitsbezogener Kommunikationstechnologien und wird intensiv genutzt. Während sich die GesundheitswissenschaftlerInnen auf die Chancen dieser Anwendungen für die Gesundheitsförderung und -versorgung konzentrieren, warnen bspw. die KulturwissenschaftlerInnen v...

Free access until June 26: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1f1qs2dv7nNe-e Objective This review systematically examines the theory base and effectiveness of communication strategies (i.e., message content, message attributes, communication channels, and communicators) of interventions for caregivers to prevent unintentional child injuries. Methods:...

Background In 2018, Alden et al. showed that the desired degree of family involvement in medical decisions is an individual preference that is largely independent from East-West cultural stereotypes. At the same time, individual-level interdependence influenced whether patients preferred more individual or more family involvement in their decision...

Responsibility frames potentially shape the public perception of health issues such as obesity, diabetes, or mental illness, specifically regarding responsibility attributions for their causes and treatment. Which responsibility frames prevail in the health context, and the responses they may elicit from audiences has not been studied systematicall...

Die wiederkehrenden Schließungen von Bildungsinstitutionen während der Corona-Pandemie und die damit verbundene Umstellung vom Präsenzunterricht zum Distanzlernen und zum Wechselunterricht näherte Befürchtungen und Ängste bei Eltern und Lernenden, dass Lernstoff nicht mehr aufgeholt werden kann, Lernerfolge ausbleiben und (bereits bestehende) Wisse...

Der Ausbruch der Corona-Pandemie stellte Eltern und Kinder weltweit vor Herausforderungen und löste Unsicherheiten aus. Eltern mussten neben dem Alltag Homeoffice, Betreuungsaufgaben und die Begleitung des Homeschoolings ihrer Kinder bewältigen. Insbesondere die Schliessung der Kindestagesstätten und Schulen sowie Ausgangsbeschränkungen veränderten...

Aim Telemedicine is a promising solution to extend traditional health care services. Even though mainly discussed during the past two decades, its roots go back into the past century and even further, considering the use of bonfires to warn other villages of diseases. Insights from historical cases can therefore be useful for the ongoing discussion...

Fear is a natural companion of a global pandemic. Throughout history, a variety of sources and media from medical publications to health websites have been involved in the dissemination (and mitigation) of fear. In this chapter, we identify historically consistent patterns of adaptive and maladaptive fear dissemination of media from early pandemics...

Visuell präsentierte Belege werden in der Wissenschaftskommunikation nicht nur zur Veranschaulichung von wissenschaftlichen Zusammenhängen genutzt, sondern sie stehen mitunter auch stellvertretend für die Evidenz demonstrierter Sachverhalte und suggerieren Objektivität. Verschiedene (visuelle) Evidenzpraktiken können unterschieden werden, welche al...

Media responsibility frames can influence how people think about health issues such as dementia. Although previous research has focused on studying textual frames, visual content may also contain frames that can influence the impact of media content on recipients. Thus, visual frames can be helpful in effectively designing media health messages. Th...

Objective Standardized pretest–posttest experimental designs with quantitative surveys are frequently applied to evaluate the effectiveness of health programs. However, this method is strongly informed by research on samples from Western, Educated, Industralized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) societies and may not produce meaningful results in a dis...

Zusammenfassung Hintergrund Angebote zur Achtsamkeitsförderung durch Stressbewältigung sind zunehmend ein wichtiger Teil des Gesundheitsmanagements in Hochschulen geworden. Der Bedarf dafür hat sich gerade in der COVID-19-bedingten („coronavirus disease 2019“) Pandemiesituation deutlich verstärkt. Allerdings werden die Angebote von den Studierende...

Cancer information services (CISs) can play an important role within the pathway of cancer information seeking, but so far, this role is not well understood. Callers ( n = 6,255) who contacted the largest provider of cancer information in Germany participated in a survey in which they reported their information sources, information level, and needs...

Background Handwashing with soap is a cost-effective, efficient health behavior to prevent various diseases. Despite its immense health benefits, the lowest prevalence of handwashing is found in low-income countries. Here, its practice is not only determined by individual behavior, but also heavily shaped by deprivations in the social and structura...

The study presented in this article examined individuals' interpersonal communication about media coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic. In times of a severe public health crisis, people rely heavily on media coverage to stay informed. Communicating with others about this coverage can help them gain deeper insights and evaluate pandemic-related inf...

Der sektorenübergreifende Zuweisungsprozess von Ärzt*innen an Kliniken ist ein wesentlicher Faktor für die Generierung einer ausreichenden Patient*innenzahl, um das Krankenhaus wettbewerbsfähig zu halten. Niedergelassenen Ärzt*innen kommt als Zuweisenden dabei eine zentrale Rolle zu, da sie als Gatekeeper zwischen ihren Patient*innen und den Klinik...

Der Unternehmer Karl August Lingner (1861–1916) gilt aufgrund seiner Aktivitäten im Gesundheitsbereich als Vorreiter, der wichtige Impulse sowohl für die Gesundheitskommunikation als auch die PR gab. Sein Kommunikationsmanagement wird in einer historischen Betrachtung anhand der Stufen des DPRG/ICV-Bezugsrahmens aufgezeigt. In der Analyse zeigt sic...

Zusammenfassung Frames der Verantwortungszuschreibung (Responsibility Frames) in der Medienberichterstattung betonen sowohl spezifische Ursachen als auch spezifische Lösungen für ein Thema. Die Forschung zum Responsibility Framing von Medieninhalten und deren Wirkungen untersucht diese Betonung bislang zumeist auf zwei verschiedenen Ebenen: der Ind...

Für die schwierige Erreichbarkeit einzelner Zielgruppen in der Prävention und Gesundheitsförderung können unterschiedliche Ursachen verantwortlich sein. Barrieren der Vermittlung können im Zugang zu Informationen oder Beratungsangeboten bestehen, aber auch durch unzureichende Verständlichkeit (z. B. aufgrund der Fachwörter) oder mangelnde Akzeptanz...

Das Gesundheitssystem ist geprägt von medizinischen, gemeinwohlorientierten und ökonomischen Interessen. Diese Zielgrößen sind dabei vor dem Hintergrund gesellschaftlicher und systembezogener Wandlungsprozesse wie der Patientenorientierung und Digitalisierung zu bewerten. In der Gesamtschau ergibt dies ein Spannungsfeld konkurrierender und kompleme...

Zusammenfassung Hintergrund Diabetes mellitus und Depression sind Erkrankungen mit einer steigenden Prävalenz in Deutschland. Die Bevölkerung über die entsprechenden Präventions- und Therapiemöglichkeiten zu informieren ist beispielsweise durch journalistische Medienberichterstattung möglich. Denn Untersuchungen zeigen, dass mediale Darstellungen...

A decade ago, health communication research in Europe was still considered an emerging field. Today, in response to the assiduous efforts of European researchers and scholars, we are proud to present the European Journal of Health Communication (EJHC). As the first journal that is explicitly dedicated to European health communication research, EJHC...

A significant proportion of online health information seeking is related to the health of others, such as the one of family members and friends, instead of an individual’s own health. Understanding these behaviors of proxy seekers, i.e., individuals who seek information about the health of others, can improve the transmission of health information...

If medical decision-making about complex treatment options (such as surgical procedures) is challenging for patients, family members can provide them with advice and health information. Previous research about family involvement in health communication has largely focused on cancer patients. Thus, it lacks an examination of family involvement in su...

Electronic patient records or virtual consultation hours—in recent years, digital developments have increasingly found their way into medical care structures and individual healthcare. Additionally, communication on health and illness in individuals’ everyday lives is increasingly taking place via digital media and has become an element of our life...

Electronic patient records or virtual consultation hours—in recent years, digital developments have increasingly found their way into medical care structures and individual healthcare. Additionally, communication on health and illness in individuals’ everyday lives is increasingly taking place via digital media and has become an element of our life...