Health communication inquiry has developed over the last thirty years as a rapidly growing, active, and important interdisciplinary area of study concerned with the powerful roles performed by human and mediated communication in health care delivery and health promotion. Health communication is an exciting applied behavioral science area of communication inquiry that examines the ways communication influences health, health care delivery, and health promotion. Research concerning health communication is often problem-focused, designed to identify, examine, and solve serious health care and health promotion problems.

The first volume, Health Communication in the Delivery of Health Care, focuses on amongst other things consumer-provider health communication, interprofessional relations and team work in health care services and the role of communication in both leading to and reducing disparities in health outcomes.

The second volume, Health Communication and Health Promotion, focuses on topics such as the role of communication in public health promotion campaigns, social marketing strategies and the role of media in health promotion.

The third volume, Health Risk Communication, focuses on theory and research on health risk awareness, health risk prevention and health risk reduction.

The fourth volume, Health Communication and New Information Technologies (eHealth), focuses on the use of technology in the dissemination of relevant health information and the advent of empowered e-patients, and ehealth policy and regulation.