COMM4473 · Communication

Health/Illness in Relationships

Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences

Satisfies one of two required writing intensive courses required within the Communication major. Restricted to Juniors and Seniors.. This class integrates communication theories and applications in the contexts of healthcare conversations and decisions, and with organizational and social systems. We consider conversations with health providers, family members, and close friends navigating illness. We address the complexities of communication within broader healthcare structures and the distribution of resources to promote health and address illness. We address disparities in access and communication about quality healthcare such that advances in science, technology, and medicine are unequally distributed. This course considers disparities in substantive ways that require us to consider how relationships are tied to resources, to values, and to larger economic motives. We address communication processes as we unpack each of the complexities in health and illness in relationships.