Communicating about Risks and Safe Use of Medicines: Real Life and Applied Research

This book brings together, for the first time, methodological overviews and advice from multiple disciplines for studying communication about medicines. It aims at laying the ground for research that provides evidence on the causal relationships between structures, processes and outcomes of communication and impacting factors. This evidence should improve communication of the many parties involved for patient safety and informed choices.   

Eight methods chapters cover the cognitive and behavioural sciences, rhetoric, social sciences, media sciences, design science, dissemination & implementation science and pharmacoepidemiology, embraced by chapters on ethical and legal considerations. The opening chapter, authored by the editor, provides an umbrella research framework and instigates the establishment of a self-standing inclusive discipline of humanities and epidemiology of medicinal product risk communication with the participation of all stakeholders. A call for an especially active role of patients is made in the concluding chapter by a patient representative. All these chapters are underpinned by illustrative examples, and four additional case study chapters on contraceptives, COX 2-inhibitors, isotretinoin and pandemic influenza vaccines give insights into the challenges of communicating in practice as well as studying such communication events. The foreword, addressing the worldwide need and utility of such research, and the afterword on the dimension of communicating in low- and middle-income countries together cater for the global relevance of the book. All authors are experts in their discipline and have practical experience too, in the local or international arena.

This new book is now available from Springer Nature, and will be of interest to researchers, medicines safety specialists, policy-makers, healthcare professionals and all stakeholders involved in communicating about risks and safe use with medicines, and last but not least to patient advocates.  It is meant to inspire those new to the field as well as those with experience, and all chapters reflect on latest developments and on what may become important in the future.