Submit a Manuscript to the Journal
Journal of Health Communication

For a Special Issue on
Leaving No One Behind: Opportunities for improving future pandemic-related communication

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed many shortcomings in the delivery of accurate and trusted health communication. Evidence-based recommendations from previous pandemics were ignored. Disinformation campaigns eroded confidence in trusted institutions. Inadequate coordination between jurisdictions increased public confusion. A lack of commitment to understanding diverse communities further worsened racial and economic disparities. Opportunities to build trust with disenfranchised communities were lost.

But the crisis also helped strengthen community outreach systems. Telemedicine began to fulfill its potential. Online public health education reached more people than ever. Communities banded together to distribute emergency food assistance in innovative ways. The problems of misinformation became a higher priority for researchers and practitioners.

With this special issue, we are seeking original research and commentaries that inform how we improve local and global pandemic-related communication in the future. Insights and data on New York City are particularly welcome.

Domains of interest include:

• Racial and ethnic health equity and drivers of health disparities
• The lived experience of the hardest hit communities
• Vaccine literacy, hesitancy, and outreach
• Multisectoral solutions
• “Whole of Society” approaches
• Longitudinal data analyses
• Computer modeling and population health informatics
• Entrepreneurial engagement
• Global efforts with implications for NYC
• Social marketing

This is the first dedicated issue of an academic journal to identify actionable strategies to improve future pandemic communications. It is produced in collaboration with the NYC Pandemic Response Institute (PRI) Communications Team. The PRI is Operated by ICAP Global Health at Columbia University, and its key partner the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY SPH).

About the Guest Editor:

Chris Palmedo is a CUNY SPH clinical professor and a co-lead on the PRI Communications Team. His research and teaching focus on health communications and social marketing. Dr. Palmedo is co-founder of the CUNY SPH master’s of science (MS) degree program in Health Communication for Social Change. He joined CUNY SPH after a 20-year career in health organizations, where he designed communications programs to encourage individuals to make healthier decisions for themselves and their families. He is co-author of a college textbook on personal health with a focus on the upstream determinants of health.

Manuscripts should be submitted through the online submission process at the Journal of Health Communication website.

All manuscripts are reviewed upon submission. Manuscripts accepted ahead of the issue’s publication date may be published online immediately. Manuscripts can be submitted any time between the call for papers and the submission deadline.

The word limit is 5,000, exclusive of figures, tables and references.

Timeline:

• Submission Deadline: October 15, 2022
• Acceptance decisions by: February 8, 2023
• Publication: Early May 2023

Questions may be directed to Lauren Swan-Potras, Managing Editor:

[email protected]

Instructions for AuthorsSubmit an Article