About Gary L. Kreps, Ph.D., FAAHB, FICA: Gary Kreps is University Distinguished Professor of Communication at George Mason University, where he also serves as Director of the Center for Health and Risk Communication (CHRC). As University Distinguished Professor, Dr. Kreps teaches numerous graduate courses on fundamental and advanced health communication research, consumer-provider health communication, digital health communication, intercultural and international health and risk communication, and health communication campaigns. Over the course of his career, Dr. Kreps has been a pioneering advocate for health communication as a professional and academic discipline. In 1976, he established the first formal health communication professional group at the International Communication Association, the ICA Health Communication Division, which he subsequently chaired for several years. Additionally, Dr. Kreps served as the Founding Chair of the National Communication Association’s Health Communication Division, and during his tenure he helped to create programs, initiatives, and awards that called attention to the necessity of health communication as a professional practice and a field of scholarship.
Dr. Kreps has also been an active scholar in the field of health communication, collaborating with organizations such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the NIH’s National Cancer Institute to implement new health communication programs and systems and study their efficacy. He has served as an advisor for the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) regarding their approach to educating consumers effectively through health communication principles. As founding Director of the CHRC, he works with national and international government health agencies and departments to conduct studies on the efficacy of health communication methods and the health education needs of vulnerable populations. He also is a founding member of the Society for Health Communication.
Interview Questions
[MastersinCommunications.com] May we have an overview of your professional and academic background? What are your responsibilities as a Professor and the Director for the Center for Health and Risk Communication at George Mason University? How did you first become interested in health communication, and how have your research interests evolved over the course of your career?
[Dr. Gary Kreps] My official title is currently University Distinguished Professor of Communication and Director of the Center for Health and Risk Communication at George Mason University. I received my BA (1975) and MA (1976) degrees in Communication from the University of Colorado, Boulder, focusing my studies on interpersonal, intercultural, nonverbal, applied, and organizational communication. I earned my PhD (1979) degree from the University of Southern California, focusing on organizational and applied communication research, developing my interests in health communication on my own.
As an undergraduate (1973-1974) and during my MA program (1975-76), I became interested in the influences of communication on health, especially in the delivery of care and promotion of healthy behaviors, but there were no classes on this topic, very little literature about health communication at the time, and very few faculty working in this area (none at CU-Boulder). Around 1974 I joined the International Communication Association where I met a small group of interdisciplinary scholars (from interpersonal communication, mass communication, journalism, medicine, public health, etc.) with interests in communication and health. I worked with this group to start the Therapeutic Communication interest group at the International Communication Association (ICA) in 1974, which eventually was established as the ICA Health Communication Division in 1976 (this was the first formal academic health communication group).
In 1976 I began working on my PhD degree at USC, but there were no faculty there focusing directly on health communication. However, at USC the faculty encouraged my work in health communication and even allowed me to introduce and teach an undergraduate course on health communication as a Graduate Teaching Assistant. I also introduced and taught courses related to health communication as an Instructor at Chapman College, and as a professional trainer at large medical centers in Southern California. Since then, my scholarly interests (research, teaching, and applications) have spanned a variety of areas, with a strong focus on health communication. I have introduced courses in health communication wherever I have taught (Purdue University Northwest, Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, Rutgers University, Northern Illinois University, UNLV, Hofstra University, and now at George Mason University). I have also advised the development and implementation of health communication courses and programs of study at many universities, both in the US and internationally. I have given many lectures promoting the study of health communication around the globe.
Over the course of my career, I helped introduce and develop the sub-field of health communication in a variety of ways. I co-authored with Barbara Thornton one of the first books on health communication in the early 80’s. Since then, I have established a prolific program of shared research and publication, with more than 500 frequently cited articles, chapters, books, monographs, and journal special issues concerning health communication and applied communication research. I championed the introduction of the Health Communication Division at the National Communication Association (NCA) in 1985. I chaired both the ICA and the NCA Health Communication Divisions, where I introduced new awards for health communication research at both associations. More recently, I helped establish the Society for Health Communication.
I have also worked as a health communication scientist with major government agencies, beginning in 1985-1986, on-leave from my faculty appointment at Rutgers University, and as an IPA (Inter-government Personnel Act) Research Fellow with the National Cancer Institute (NCI). In this role with the NCI, I directed a large-scale national evaluation research project of the innovative online cancer treatment information system, the PDQ (Physician Data Query) program, that NCI had introduced but which was not having the intended influence on upgrading cancer treatment protocols used by community physicians. I learned a lot about the important research infrastructure at NIH (particularly at NCI) and at other major government agencies, such as CDC and NLM.
In 1999 I was invited to work again at the NCI to establish the Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch in the NCI Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences as the founding Branch Chief, a position in which I served for five years. In this role, I was able to introduce many new health communication research initiatives, including millions of dollars of new research funding for health communication scholars. More recently I served as a Special Government Employee with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), and the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), where I have provided scientific advice and conducted health communication research for these agencies.
Currently, at George Mason University, I teach graduate level courses for both MA and PhD students in the following classes: Introduction to Health Communication Research, Consumer-Provider Health Communication, E-health Communication, Intercultural Health and Risk Communication, Health Communication Campaigns, Introduction to Graduate Research in Communication, Interpersonal Communication Theory, and Communication Research Projects (for MA students who are conducting their required MA research projects). I direct many MA and PhD level research projects (theses and dissertations), direct many graduate-level independent study classes, and serve as a mentor for many post-doctoral scholars (both domestically and internationally).
As the founding Director of the Center for Health and Risk Communication (CHRC) I coordinate (along with several department faculty colleagues, graduate students, and affiliated scholars) multiple local, regional, national, and international research projects (often in collaboration with scholars from different fields of study, different educational and health organizations, and from multiple countries) on issues related to disease prevention, health promotion, health education, risk communication, and health information dissemination regarding health problems such as cancers, heart disease, HIV/AIDS, infectious diseases, mental health issues, vaccination, suicide prevention, maternal/child health, and addiction. The CHRC works in collaboration with many government health agencies (such as several of the NIH institutes, the FDA, NLM, HRSA, AHRQ, VHA, DHHS, and CDC), international health organizations (such as the WHO, PAHO, and UNICEF), and health foundations (such as the RWJF and the Kaiser Family Foundation), local public health departments, and national health ministries from a number of countries. As CHRC Director I also coordinate an active program of student/faculty engagement concerning health and risk communication research, project development, collaborations, seminars, and presentations/publications.
[MastersinCommunications.com] May we have more information on your active research program and your recent and current projects? What impact has your research had in helping scholars, health professionals, and the public at large better understand the communication practices that reduce health risk and enhance health outcomes? What role does health communication play in health equity?
[Dr. Gary Kreps] My active research program examines how evidence-based and culturally sensitive communication programs, utilizing multiple strategic media/messages, can promote health. I use rigorous and revealing multi-methodological field data to guide strategic dissemination of relevant health information and support for consumers, caregivers, and providers to guide informed health decisions/actions across the continuum of care. Some of my major health promotion research programs include:
1. Dissemination and Use of Health Information
I oversaw introducing and directing the Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) research program when I served as Chief of the Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch at the National Cancer Institute. HINTS is a major source of scientific health information that has been conducted on a regular schedule for more than a decade by the NCI and has become a major federal public health research program (see: https://hints.cancer.gov/). The HINTS research program gathers representative national US data about public access to and use of health information to guide health decisions and behaviors, including identifying specific information gaps and needs. HINTS data are used by government health agencies, public health departments, and health care delivery centers to guide development and implementation of evidence-based health promotion interventions for at-risk populations, as well as to evaluate past health education efforts and to test important health promotion hypotheses and theories.
Over the past several years, I have extended the use of HINTS with immigrant populations and in many foreign countries. I currently coordinate the INSIGHTS (International Studies to Investigate Global Health Information Trends) research consortium, where health information surveys based upon HINTS are conducted regularly in multiple countries, including China, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Israel, South Africa, Chile, Singapore, and Hong Kong, with new programs being introduced in Nepal, Greece, Malta, Peru, Colombia, Nigeria, Kenya, and South Korea. The INSIGHTS research program is a robust source of relevant health data, with HINTS instruments, data, and reports being disseminated widely, spurring supplementary HINTS related research programs and broad public health applications of findings. [For more information, check out some of Dr. Kreps’ key publications on the Dissemination and Use of Health Information here.]
2. Communication and Medication Adherence
I directed a national research program with funding from and collaboration with Merck, Inc. to identify the role of communication in encouraging consumers with chronic diseases to follow prescribed medication recommendations. The research found that about half of all consumers with serious chronic diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, and mental health disorders, were not taking their prescribed medications. Many never filled their prescription for their medications, while other stopped taking their medications mid-course, and were not receiving needed therapeutic benefits. Still other consumers were not following the correct regimen for their medications, often taking smaller doses than recommended or not following the recommended medication schedule, also diminishing therapeutic medication benefits.
Personal interviews and focus group discussions conducted with a representative national sample of consumers with chronic diseases who were not following medication prescriptions showed that they had concerns and uncertainties about the need for their medications, the correct way to use the medications, how to deal with negative effects from medications, long term risks from the medications, how to integrate taking medication into their lives and schedules, as well as about the costs (financial and personal) in taking medications. Based on the data we developed, refined, and evaluated motivational messages for use with consumers to help them address these areas of concern, resolve their uncertainty, and help them make informed decisions about their prescribed treatment regimens. This research has been used to inform communication with consumers to enhance medication adherence. [For more information, check out some of Dr. Kreps’ key medication adherence publications here.]
3. Communication and the Delivery of Care
I introduced new conceptual models to guide health care, research and practice, such as the Relational Health Communication Competence Model (RHCCM), which has been empirically tested, supported, extended, and applied in a number of important studies. This theory describes the critical communication factors that enhance the delivery of care and promote the best health outcomes from care. This model has been used to guide important research and health care delivery applications. [For more information, check out some of Dr. Kreps’ publications concerning the RHCCM here.]:
4. Digital Health Information Systems
I examine strategic applications of digital health information systems and have facilitated adoption and refinement of important new health informatics tools. For example, I guided development of the “Unified Health Communication” interactive national online educational program for HRSA that has helped thousands of health care providers develop culturally competent health care delivery skills for helping consumers with low levels of health literacy and English language proficiency. This health information program received the First Place Blue Pencil and Gold Screen Award of Excellence from the National Association of Government Communicators. I have advocated for the development of culturally sensitive, adaptive, and interactive health information technologies for health promotion. [For more information, check out some of Dr. Kreps’ relevant publications in this area here.]
5. Patient-Centered Health Communication
I have been a champion for the strategic use of communication to enhance patient engagement in care. A key part of this work involves the dissemination of relevant health information to guide health decision-making and encourage participation in health care. For example, I helped the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) evaluate an interactive computer-based “Home Telehealth Care Coordination” program to help thousands of veterans confronting serious chronic diseases monitor their health and seek timely care at home. Evaluation results demonstrated overwhelming effectiveness of this program for promoting health and managing health care costs. The program was implemented nationally (see: https://telehealth.va.gov/). [For more information, check out some of Dr. Kreps’ publications in this area of inquiry here.]
[MastersinCommunications.com] Prior to your position at George Mason University, you served as the Founding Chief of the Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch at the National Cancer Institute (NIH). May we have more information about this role, and the projects you oversaw at the National Cancer Institute?
[Dr. Gary Kreps] While serving at the NCI from 1999 to 2004 as the founding Chief of the Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch (HCIRB) I was able to introduce many important large-scale health communication research programs that have had a major influence on advancing health communication science and applications. Some of these programs involved intramural research projects that my NCI colleagues and I designed and conducted, such as the HINTS research program. HINTS has become a major national research resource used by many government agencies and involving researchers from many institutions, and now with the INSIGHTS research consortium, involving many different countries. This research combines fundamental (basic) research (where we examine the relationships among key variables to test and develop health communication theories), surveillance research (where we track health communication practices, trends, and outcomes), and intervention research (where the data gathered is used to guide health communication programs and policies for disease prevention and health promotion).
While serving as Chief of HCIRB, I also helped to introduce and manage several major extramural research programs, where academic researchers were funded to conduct health communication research. This included the Centers of Excellence in Cancer Communication Research, where five large transdisciplinary multi-year research centers were established to conduct programmatic research about cancer communication in the delivery of care, dissemination of health information, use of online information systems, influence of relevant health behaviors, and use of media for influencing cancer-related beliefs and behaviors. The Intervention Research Program was established to fund innovative research to test different strategies for improving cancer communication programs. The Digital Divide Pilot Projects were introduced to test the best ways to use online and digital information systems to disseminate health information to poor, disenfranchised and at-risk populations.
In addition, we introduced a Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) in Multi-Media Cancer Communication to fund development of new start-up companies to develop cancer communication educational tools and programs to improve health outcomes from cancer. The major advantage to conducting health communication research through the HCIRB was the access to significant funding and research resources that are not typically available to communication scholars, enabling these scholars to engage in “big science” that included large generalizable samples, employed high powered and longitudinal communication interventions, and engaged the efforts of a transdisciplinary body of scholars to conduct robust and far-reaching programmatic research. The challenge, however, was working within the strict regulations and complex bureaucracy of federal government systems, which did not always allow scholars the flexibility to examine new ideas in different ways. For example, the research interests of the federal funding agencies did not always match the research interests of scholars, and certain research methods and designs may have been favored by federal funders over the research strategies that independent scholars might prefer to use.
[MastersinCommunications.com] In addition to your academic research, you are also an Academic Practice Team Member, Project Leader, and Co-Investigator for the Advanced Nursing Education Workshop (ANEW) Program. May we have more information about the ANEW Program, and how your background as a scholar of health communication has enabled you to push ANEW’s initiatives forward?
[Dr. Gary Kreps] The ANEW program is designed to evaluate strategies for providing care to vulnerable and largely uninsured immigrant populations, and to develop evidence-based strategies for improving the delivery of care and enhancing health outcomes for members of these populations. The CHRC collaborated with investigators from the School of Nursing at George Mason University on this project who had established a network of free clinics in Northern Virginia, called the Mason and Partners (MAP) Clinics, to serve members of vulnerable populations–largely poor, immigrant, and underinsured consumers. My multi-lingual graduate research assistants and I conducted interviews with patients on-site at the MAP clinics to examine their reactions to care at the clinics and to identify ways to improve delivery of care for these patients. In addition, we conducted surveys and focus group discussions with clinic staff members and health care providers to identify their communication needs and concerns about serving these vulnerable consumers.
We found from this research that intercultural communication competence and sensitivity was a crucial factor to successful delivery of care from both the consumers’ and providers’ perspectives. This information was incorporated into training programs to prepare staff members to work effectively with members of this patient population. Interestingly, we found a very high level of satisfaction with communication and quality of care from both consumers and providers in the study. There already was a high level of sensitive and adaptive intercultural communication between staff and patients, with the training programs serving to refine and sustain high-level quality of care.
My graduate students and I found it very relevant to test out theories about communication competence and health outcomes in the delivery of care, helping to validate applications from the Relational Health Communication Competence Model (RHCCM). The patients and staff members at the clinics were also pleased to find that the clinics were providing culturally sensitive high-quality health care. It is exciting to be able to connect health communication theory and education to conducting relevant field-based health research that can improve care for vulnerable health care consumers and serve as a model for developing additional programs to serve members of these populations. This research was funded by the Health Resources Services Administration, which can use the findings from this research to guide development and refinement of other health care delivery systems for at-risk consumers.
[MastersinCommunications.com] In addition to your development and stewardship of programs that evaluate health communication dynamics, you have also founded several key programs aimed at serving vulnerable populations directly and/or empowering health organizations to better reach their target audiences. May we have more information on some of these programs, including your Nursing Education Workshop Program and the Global Advocacy Leadership Academy?
[Dr. Gary Kreps] As an engaged communication scholar, I am very interested in translating my health communication research into sustainable programs to improve health promotion and the delivery of care. The Global Advocacy Leadership Academy (GALA) is an example of a sustainable program based on health communication research to improve care for consumers by promoting health advocacy. In this program that I co-direct with my good friend Paula Kim, the founder of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCan advocacy group), we provide training and support to health advocacy group leaders in different countries (including the US, South Korea, Japan, and several European nations) to help them meet the unique communication demands of effective health advocacy promotion.
[MastersinCommunications.com] You have presented worldwide on topics such as health communication digitization, the history of health communication, and the connections between physical and community health. Through these presentations, what national and international communities do you reach, and how do you hope to change the landscape of public health and health communication?
[Dr. Gary Kreps] I find that the many presentations I give around the globe are important ways to promote the study of health communication within these countries, as well as to develop health communication collaborations with scholars and practitioners in these countries. Since the pandemic stopped my international travel schedule, I have been giving a number of talks online in countries such as New Zealand, Sweden, and Pakistan. Many of my recent presentations have examined effective communication during pandemics, examining issues such as promoting infection prevention, countering misinformation, and the role of government in providing information during pandemics.
[MastersinCommunications.com] What are the distinctions and overlaps between health communication and risk communication? On a related note, may we have more information about your role as an active member of the FDA Risk Communication Advisory Committee, and the risk communication outreach initiative you established for the NIH? Why is risk communication a crucial element of both health communication and public health strategy?
[Dr. Gary Kreps] Health risk communication is an important area of study within the health communication field. It is directly related to disease prevention and control, as well as responding effectively to health emergencies. Health risk communication is not just related to infectious diseases (such as COVID-19), but also to environmental risks to health (such as hurricanes, floods, tsunamis, earthquakes, and fires), acts of terrorism, warfare, and other forms of violence. Health risk communication also concerns health risks from genetic factors, daily environmental factors (such as pollution, exposure to chemicals and carcinogens, etc.), aging, traffic, and more. Communication is an essential process for informing people about health risks, the best ways to identify and avoid health risks, and the best ways to respond to these risks. Communication is also the social process for coordinating responses to health emergencies, disseminating updates about health emergencies via different media, and planning for future health risk emergencies.
I have now completed my term as a member of the FDA Risk Communication Advisory Committee, but in that capacity, I helped the FDA examine the best ways to communicate to different public groups about health risks, how to regulate communication about health products and services, and about the development of needed policies to ensure accurate and clear communication about health products and services. When I worked at the National Cancer Institute as Chief of the Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch, I developed research programs and oversaw research grant projects concerned with communication about cancer risks. Recently, I have been working with the National Institute for Environmental Health Science as an advisor to help them examine the best ways to communicate with key at-risk populations about environmental health risks, such as carcinogens, for breast cancer.
[MastersinCommunications.com] For students who are considering a career in Health Communication, how are the core theories and methodologies of communication (e.g., quantitative, qualitative, rhetorical) and areas of study such as interpersonal, family, intercultural, organizational, mass, and political communication relevant in the field of health communication?
[Dr. Gary Kreps] Health communication is a very broad area of study that encompasses many different theories and research methods. Health communication research is conducted from the positivist, systems, interpretive, and critical research paradigms. In fact, my own work reflects each of these paradigms. I have conducted studies related to interpersonal, group, organizational, mass media, digital media, political communication, intercultural communication, and even rhetorical aspects of communication.
[MastersinCommunications.com] Why is health communication such an important and growing field within the health care industry? As a scholar of health communication, how would you say the field of health communication has evolved over the past two decades, and where do you see it going in the future? What role do you believe communication technology advancements will play in reshaping health communication?
[Dr. Gary Kreps] Health communication is a very applied area of study that examines the role of communication in the delivery of care and the promotion of health. Therefore, it is a field that is most relevant to those who seek and deliver health care and health promotion services. There has been growing recognition within the health care industry of the importance of communication, making the field of health communication increasingly more important and welcome by health practitioners and also by health care consumers. Over the years, health communication research and practice have become increasingly sophisticated, with more scholars studying health communication issues and greater support for health communication research, policy development, and other health communication applications and technologies.
The health professional education fields (medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, public health, counseling, social work, health care administration, and more) have all embraced communication as an important (even essential) area of study, with many health communication scholars now working with these health professional education fields. Health communication technology has become a central part of the modern health care system, yet there is a tremendous need to learn the best ways to utilize and design these technologies so they can enhance communication. The field of health communication is increasingly focused on examining the issue of health technology design and use.
The COVID-19 pandemic has really reinforced the importance of digital communication for disseminating health information, providing social support, and even for providing health care since most people are staying close to home to avoid contagion and therefore relying on the use of online communication systems. This has been a boon for the study of e-health, digital health communication.
[MastersinCommunications.com] How would you say the COVID-19 public health crisis and how it has been handled by different health communication outlets–government press releases, large and small newspaper outlets, etc.–illustrates the interplay of health and risk communication? What lessons are to be learned from the United States’ handling of communication around this public health crisis?
[Dr. Gary Kreps] There have been major problems, especially in the US, with the way the pandemic has been communicated to the public, especially by government sources. The White House has become a major source for misinformation about COVID-19, with frequent messages to the public undermining the seriousness of the pandemic, discouraging the adoption of preventive measures, recommending unfounded treatments, and encouraging re-opening of society (restaurants, businesses, schools, churches, etc.) before the risks of contagion were diminished. Health experts have been muzzled by the White House and preventive measures have been politicized as being either liberal (adopting them) or conservative (rejecting them). This has resulted in more infections and deaths from the pandemic in the US than in any other country. It is very sad! I have been speaking and writing a lot about how government communication must be improved to reduce the risks from the pandemic.
Thank you, Dr. Kreps, for your discussion of your research on health communication theoretical frameworks, communication in the delivery of care, and digital health communication innovations, as well as for your excellent insight into the field of health communication and its impact on patient outcomes and community health!
Relevant Publications
Dissemination and Use of Health Information Publications:
- Nelson, D.E., Kreps, G.L., Hesse, B.W., Croyle, R.T., Willis, G., Arora, N.K., Rimer, B.K., Viswanath, K., Weinstein, N., & Alden, S. (2004). The Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS): Development, design, and dissemination. Journal of Health Communication, 9(5), 1-18
- Finney Rutten, L, Hesse, B., Moser, R., & Kreps, G.L. (Eds.) (2011). Building the evidence base in cancer communication. Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.
- Kreps, G.L., Oh, K.M., Zhou, P., & Kim, W. (2014). Applying the HINTS Research Model to Studying Korean American Immigrants’ Access to and Use of Health Information. In: A decade of HINTS: Quantifying the Health Information Revolution through Data Innovation and Collaboration (p. 31). Bethesda, MD: National Cancer Institute.
- Zhao, X, Mao, Q., Kreps, G.L., Yu, G., Li, Y., Xu, Z., Song, M, Chou, W-Y., Persoskie, A., He, R., & Kim, P. (2015). Cancer information seekers in China: A preliminary profile. Journal of Health Communication, 20(5), 616-626.
- Kreps, G. L., Yu, G., Zhao, X., Chou, S. W. Y., & Hesse, B. (2017). Expanding the NCI Health Information National Trends Survey from the United States to China and beyond: Examining the influences of consumer health information needs and practices on local and global health. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 94(2), 515-525, 1077699016687725
- Yu, G., Pan, J., & Kreps, G.L. (2018). The norms of health communication research: Theoretical framework and academic logic based on the Chinese Health Information National Trends Survey. In: G. Yu (Ed.). Health communication: Chinese people’s information access, cognition, and acknowledgement. Empirical research and analysis based on HINTS China survey (pp. 3-14). Beijing: CIP, ISBN 978-7-5115-5540-3. Reprinted from: Editorial Friend, (11), 5-10 (published online in Chinese at: http://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/wRRzJSt5_So9o-oBPc7SKQv
- Kreps, G.L (2020). Translating research into practice on a global scale: The Health Information National Trends Survey global research program. In D.S. Anderson (Ed.). Leadership in Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention: Insights from Long-Term Advocates (pp. 235-238). New York: Routledge.
Communication and Medication Adherence Publications:
- Kreps, G.L., Villagran, M.M., Zhao, X., McHorney, C., Ledford, C., Weathers, M., & Keefe. B.P. (2011). Development and validation of motivational messages to improve prescription medication adherence for patients with chronic health problems. Patient Education and Counseling, 83, 365-371.
- Zhao, X., Villagran, M., Kreps, G.L., & McHorney. (2012). Gain vs. loss framing in adherence-promoting communication targeting patients with chronic diseases: The moderating effect of individual time perspective. Health Communication, 7(1), 75-85.
- Kreps, G.L., Villagran, M.M., Zhao, X., McHorney, C., Ledford, C., Weathers, M., & Keefe, B. (2011). Developing and validating motivational message interventions for improving prescription drug adherence with consumers confronting chronic diseases. In R. Batra, P. Anand Kellar, & V.J. Strecher. (Eds.). Leveraging consumer psychology for effective health communications: The obesity challenge (pp. 233-250). Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe Publishers.
- Villagran, M., Kreps, G.L., Zhao, X., & McHorney, C.A. (in-press). An analysis of temporal message content in motivational messages about medication adherence. Journal of Health Psychology.
Communication and the Delivery of Care Publications:
- Kreps, G.L. (1988). Relational communication in health care. Southern Speech Communication Journal, 53, 344-359.
- Query, J.L., & Kreps, G.L. (1996). Testing a relational model of health communication competence among caregivers for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease. Journal of Health Psychology, 1(3), 1(3), 335-352
- Query, J.L., & Wright, K.B. (2003). Assessing communication competence in an on-line study: Towards informing subsequent interventions among older adults with cancer, their lay caregivers, and peers. Health Communication, 15, 205-219.
- Weathers, M., Query, J.L., & Kreps, G.L. (2010). A multivariate test of communication competence, social support, and coping among Hispanic lay caregivers for loved ones with Alzheimer’s disease: An extension of the Relational Health Communication Competence Model. Journal of Participatory Medicine, 2 e14
Digital Health Information Systems Publications:
- Wen, K.-Y., McTavish, F., Kreps, G.L., Wise, M., & Gustafson, D., (2011). From diagnosis to death: A narrative analysis of coping with breast cancer as seen through online discussion group messages. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 16 (2), 331-361.
- Kreps, G.L. (2014). Achieving the promise of digital health information systems. Journal of Public Health Research 3:471, pp. 128-129.
- Kreps, G.L. (2015). Communication technology and health: The advent of ehealth applications. In L. Cantoni & J.A. Danowski (Eds.). Communication and Technology, Volume 5 of the Handbooks of Communication Science, pp. 483-493, (P.J. Schulz & P. Cobley, General Editors). Berlin, Germany: De Gruyter Mouton Publications.
- Rising, C.E., Bol, N., & Kreps, G.L. (2015). Age-related use and perceptions of eHealth in men with prostate cancer: A web-based survey. Journal of Medical Internet Research: Cancer, (1):e6, doi:10.2196/cancer.4178; available at: URL: http://www.jmir.org/2015/1/e6/
- Rosen, B.L., Kreps, G.L., Bishop, J.M., & McDonald, S. (2019). Quality evaluation tool for clinician online continuing medical education. Health Behavior Research, 2:4. https://doi.org/10.4148/2572-1836.1044
- Nambisan, P., Lyytinen, K., Stange, K., Kahana, E., & Kreps, G. L. (2019). A comprehensive digital self-care support system for older adults: A multidisciplinary framework. Innovation in Aging, 3(Suppl 1), S326 (no impact factor listed).
Patient-Centered Health Communication Publications:
- Krist, A.H., Nease, D.E., Kreps, G.L., Overholser, L., & McKenzie, M. (2015). Engaging patients in primary and specialty care. In Hesse, B.W., Ahern, D.K., & Beckjord, E. (Eds.), Oncology Informatics: Using Health Information Technology to Improve Processes and Outcomes in Cancer Care. Paris: Elsevier.
- Kreps, G.L. (2012). Consumer control over and access to health information. Annals of Family Medicine, 10(5).
- Kreps, G.L., & Neuhauser, L. (2013). Artificial intelligence and immediacy: Designing health communication to personally engage consumers and providers. Patient Education and Counseling, 92, 205-210.
- Chumbler, N.R., Kobb, R., Harris, L., Richardson, L.C., Darkins, A., Sberna, M., Dixit, N., Donaldson, M., & Kreps, G.L. (2007). Healthcare utilization among veterans undergoing chemotherapy: The impact of a cancer care coordination/home telehealth program. Journal of Ambulatory Care Management, 30:4, 308-317.
- Kreps, G.L. (2018). Promoting patient comprehension of relevant health information. Israel Journal of Health Policy Research, 7:56, https://doi.org/10.1186/s13584-018-0250-z
- Maguire, L., & Kreps, G.L. (2020). Hidden factors in diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease. Journal of Neurology and Neurobiology, DOI: 10.31487/j.NNB.2020.01.06
Please note: Our interview series aims to represent the diverse research being pursued by scholars in the field of communication, which is often socially and politically engaged. As a result, all readers may not agree with the views and opinions expressed in this interview, which are independent of the views of MastersinCommunications.com, its parent company, partners, and affiliates.
