4.7
stars
93 ratings

Brian Zikmund-Fisher

15,083 already enrolled

Offered By

Associated with the Master of Public Health degree
Learn More

Foundational Skills for Communicating About Health

University of Michigan

About this Course

20,589 recent views

Effective communication is a core skill that nearly every health professional will need and use during their careers. Yet, few health professionals receive even basic training in how to design communications to be clear and successful. As “foundational skills,” the content in this course can be applied to both oral and written communication, within and beyond health.
Learners will develop the skills to: analyze and tailor a communication effort for different audiences, develop clear messages, create logical and compelling stories, understand and apply important considerations with language as well as nonverbal communication.

This course is valuable and appropriate for both beginning and experienced health professionals who need to communicate effectively with other professionals, patients, policymakers, or the broader public.. Content is relevant to public health professionals, clinicians of all types (medical, nursing, dentists, social work, etc.), health advocates, and scientists and researchers in any health domain..

Flexible deadlines

Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.

Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Beginner Level

Approx. 15 hours to complete

English

Could your company benefit from training employees on in-demand skills?

Try Coursera for Business

What you will learn

Define and collect important information about a target audience in order to make appropriate decisions about the communication effort
Select an audience-appropriate communications goal
Craft a clear, concise core message for a communication effort
Deploy at least two different types of narrative structures to support communications about health topics

Skills you will gain

Health Communication
Storytelling
Communication
Messaging
Tailoring communications

Flexible deadlines

Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.

Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Beginner Level

Approx. 15 hours to complete

English

Could your company benefit from training employees on in-demand skills?

Try Coursera for Business

Instructor

Instructor rating

4.82/5 (37 Ratings)

Brian Zikmund-Fisher

Associate Professor of Health Behavior and Health Education, Research Associate Professor of Internal Medicine

School of Public Health

15,112 Learners

2 Courses

Offered by

University of Michigan

Start working towards your Master's degree

This course is related to the 100% online Master of Public Health from University of Michigan. It will provide you with a preview of the topics, materials and instructors so you can decide if the full online degree program is right for you.

Learn More

See how employees at top companies are mastering in-demand skills

Learn more about Coursera for Business

Syllabus - What you will learn from this course

Content Rating96%(1,376 ratings)

Week

Week 1

2 hours to complete

Week 1

2 hours to complete

8 videos (Total 51 min), 4 readings, 5 quizzes

8 videos

Fundamental Concepts3m

What can go wrong?7m

Audience and Goals11m

Creating an Audience-Goal Worksheet7m

Audience-Goals Example: Community Brochure5m

Audience-Goals Example: Scientific Conference6m

Audience-Goals Example: Advocacy Brief5m

Audience-Goals Example: This Course Segment4m

4 readings

Faculty Introduction and Acknowledgements1m

Course Syllabus10m

Help Us Learn More About You!5m

Note about videos1m

5 practice exercises

Introductory Story of Science exercise20m

Audience / Goals Practice: Public Meeting10m

Audience / Goals Practice: Genetic Test Report10m

Audience / Goals Practice: Annual Clinic Report10m

Audience / Goals Practice: Airport Poster10m

Week

Week 2

3 hours to complete

Week 2

3 hours to complete

6 videos (Total 40 min), 2 readings, 8 quizzes

6 videos

The Importance of Message Prioritization6m

What makes a good Central Message?7m

Idea Space3m

Inverted Triangle7m

Inverted Triangle Examples11m

Inverted Triangle Useful Structure4m

2 readings

Half-Life Your Message Activity Instructions10m

A Note About The Next Set Of Items1m

8 practice exercises

Half-Life Your Message Reflection15m

Create a Central Message30m

How many points in a paragraph (1)5m

How many points in a paragraph (2)5m

How many points in a paragraph (3)5m

Critique / rewrite paragraphs10m

Evaluate summary using rubric (1)10m

Evaluate summary using rubric (2)10m

Week

Week 3

2 hours to complete

Week 3

2 hours to complete

4 videos (Total 31 min)

Week

Week 4

4 hours to complete

Week 4

4 hours to complete

13 videos (Total 56 min), 3 readings, 3 quizzes

13 videos

Power of Stories4m

The Link Between Messaging and Narrative3m

Health Sciences & Management Can be Stories4m

ABT (And, But, Therefore)7m

ABT in Science Stories6m

Other Examples of ABT3m

ABT X 24m

The Findings ABT2m

Post-Interview debrief Dr. Skip Lupia4m

One-pager Briefs4m

Advocacy Examples: Inverted Triangles + ABT3m

Advocacy Example: Repeated Inverted Triangle4m

Macro- vs. Micro-Message Structures1m

3 readings

External Video (10 min): Communicating to Policymakers10m

Letter to EPA: CPP Replacement10m

Letter to EPA: Toxic Substance Control Act10m

2 practice exercises

Evaluate ABT x 2 examples20m

Create ABT x 2 from provided research paper45m

Reviews

4.7

31 reviews

5 stars
80.64%
4 stars
13.97%
3 stars
2.15%
2 stars
1.07%
1 star
2.15%

TOP REVIEWS FROM FOUNDATIONAL SKILLS FOR COMMUNICATING ABOUT HEALTH

by SSJul 28, 2021

Found it valuable, explained clearly and in simple terms

by VAApr 5, 2020

Dr Brian is an excellent teacher with precise and discrete ideas amalgamated together so well to get an overall core of the communication skills was way too easier and clear. Thank you so much.

by PGJun 27, 2021

It is a well designed course and has helped us understand the basics and structuring required for Health Communication

by CGSep 11, 2021

I have learned a lot in this course. It is not boring because they provide not only readings but also video. Thank you so much!

View all reviews

Frequently Asked Questions

When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?
Access to lectures and assignments depends on your type of enrollment. If you take a course in audit mode, you will be able to see most course materials for free. To access graded assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience, during or after your audit. If you don't see the audit option:
The course may not offer an audit option. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid.
The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.
What will I get if I purchase the Certificate?
When you purchase a Certificate you get access to all course materials, including graded assignments. Upon completing the course, your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.
Is financial aid available?
Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.

More questions? Visit the Learner Help Center.

Build employee skills, drive business results

Discover Coursera for Business

Foundational Skills for Communicating About Health

Foundational Skills for Communicating About Health

About this Course

What you will learn

Skills you will gain