Healthcare, People and Media – Healthy China Initiative and the Multiple Approaches to Health Communication
On 18 November 2018, the academic forum, Healthcare, People and Media – Healthy China Initiative and the Multiple Approaches to Health Communication, organized by Peking University and The George Institute, China was successfully held in Beijing. Nearly 100 participants from the government, universities, media, hospitals, enterprises and public institutions joined the forum.
In the beginning, Professor Yu Hong, Deputy Dean of the SJC, Peking University, expressed her warmest welcome to all the participants. “Ever since its establishment, the Master degree of Health Communication in Peking University has adopted a dual-tutor system for every student with the combination of two tutors each from the academia and the industry. This system is an individual-based teaching mode that can accommodate to the different knowledge backgrounds of the students, and encourage them to pro-actively practice more. We are very glad to continue to cooperate with The George Institute China, and invite people of insight into the industry to deepen interdisciplinary dialogue", Yu said. The forum was hosted by Professor Xu Jing from the School of Journalism and Communication, Peking University.
At the keynote speech session in the morning, Dr. Tian Maoyi, Senior Research Fellow at The George Institute China, reviewed and shared his prospects for the healthcare system in China. “Chronic diseases have become the top killer for people’s well-being”, said Tian, “It is reported that in 2015, the proportion of the disease burden caused by chronic non-communicable diseases exceeded 80%.”
“The George Institute for Global Health has always been committed to the research, prevention, and control of chronic non-communicable diseases. The role of health communication played in the prevention and control of chronic diseases is crucial. We hope to work together with relevant fields to further improve the health and well-being of the Chinese people.”
Then, Professor Sun Xinying from Peking University Health Science Center said that in the face of the growing prevalence of chronic non-communicable diseases, changing of people's behaviors and lifestyles provide a powerful weapon and health communication serves as a resounding battle call. She also shared in details her thoughts on how health communication can promote behavioral change.
Professor Yuan Xiaoru from the School of Electronics Engineering and Computer Science, Peking University, thought that the development of information technology helps people to dig out clear and structured information from enormous data. He also used practical cases to explore health, medical and safety issues from the perspective of data visualization.
Professor Liu Dehuan, Associate Dean of the New Media Institute of Peking University, shared the research on the characteristics of health management in the mobile Internet context. He said that albeit the current vigorous development of Internet health management, it is necessary to be alert to the medical risks that may be overlooked under such rapid growth.
At the end of the morning session, Professor Sun Shaojing from School of Journalism, Fudan University expressed his opinion for the strategic theme of “Health for All - Joint Contribution and Shared Benefits” proposed under Healthy China 2030 Initiative. “The research for health communication needs to make more instructive achievements regarding mobilizing multi-party participation, facilitating effective information intervention, and promoting service equalization”, he said, “I am looking forward to a more faster development of health communication by specifying research areas, clarifying terminology and academic concepts, hosting academic forums, and advancing leading theoretical constructions.”
The sub-forum in the afternoon focused on four topics, which is Dilemma, Solution and Prospects for China's Health Communication, Life, Body, Narration and Communication, Media, Information and Internet Social Capital and Open Health Communication Research. They were hosted by Professor Dong Guanpeng from the Communication University of China, Zhu Shuai, Researcher from SJC, Peking University, Liu Xinchuan, Researcher from SJC, Peking University, and Associate Professor Qin Meiting from the University of Science and Technology of China, respectively. Over 30 scholars from Communication University of China, Tsinghua University, Peking University, Xiamen University, South China University of Technology, Beijing Normal University, Wuhan University, National University of Singapore, Sichuan University, Shenzhen University, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Macao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, and University of Science and Technology of China, discussed the topics with all the participants.
