Braden H. Bagley
Associate Professor of Communication
Special Editor of the UJOC Health Communication Issue
Southern Utah University
Suggested Citation:
Bagley, B. H. (2025). Health communication scholarship in Utah: Looking ahead to 2026 and beyond. Utah Journal of Communication, 3(2), 124-125. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17719302
The health communication research discipline stands at a pivotal moment in both national scholarship and public life. Over the past decade, researchers across the United States have confronted shifting health landscapes that include emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (Weingott & Parkinson, 2025), widening health disparities (Rothermich, et al., 2025), extreme politicization of health information (Davis, 2025), and a seismic shift in the public’s ability to trust science (Schuh, et al., 2025).
These forces have pushed the field to evolve, broadening its theoretical foundations and diversifying its methodological approaches. Today, health communication research is not simply an academic pursuit, but an essential infrastructure for a society navigating complex medical, social, and technological realities.
Nationwide, scholars have highlighted the ways by which individuals make sense of risk, evaluate evidence, form health beliefs, and engage with care systems. Whether through the scope of patient provider communication, narrative persuasion, social determinants of health, media literacy, or strategic health message design, the field has consistently demonstrated its practical value (McCullock, et al., 2021). Public health crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the opioid crisis, rising rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide have underscored the need for communication research that can employ clear messaging, build trust, and change communities. Health communication has emerged as one of the most consequential areas of communication scholarship.
These national trends have particular resonance in Utah. Our state faces a distinctive set of public health concerns shaped by its geography, demographics, and cultural dynamics. Utah is also a uniquely collaborative environment, where academic institutions, healthcare organizations, state agencies, religious institutions and local communities often work together to solve problems. In this context, health communication research is indispensable. It offers tools to bridge seemingly unconquerable gaps in understanding between political foes, foster culturally responsive outreach, and ensure that evidence-based information reaches Utahns where they are, in ways that honor their values.
The articles in this issue showcase the breadth of health and communication research, highlighting local and global challenges through innovative theoretical and methodological approaches. Julius and Farmer (2025) provide a phenomenological examination of rural healthcare using concertive control, demonstrating how community expectations can impose restrictive, informal management systems on providers. Dam (2025) explores advertising effectiveness through a social comparison lens, revealing that ads without spokesmodels may produce more favorable consumer evaluations while also addressing the complex relationship between comparison and body image.
Several articles apply communication frameworks to amplify marginalized voices and rethink foundational ideas in the field. Sedegah, Asemanyi, and Agyei (2025) use photovoice to surface Ghanaian young women’s perspectives on sexual and reproductive health, identifying barriers such as stigma, education gaps, and economic constraints. Fullerton and Coombs (2025) revisit Brockriede’s (1972) seminal argumentation essay by introducing a trauma-informed game theory reframing that preserves relational ethics while avoiding harmful metaphors, offering a modern and culturally relevant model for pedagogy and health communication.
This issue also demonstrates how communication pedagogy and scholarship intersect in practical and reflective ways. Fitzgerald and Adkisson (2025) contribute a GIFT activity that gamifies research instruction to strengthen students’ credibility judgments, citation accuracy, and research literacy. Finally, Coombs and Dietze-Hermosa (2025) review The Handbook of Mental Health Communication, emphasizing its contributions to ethical practice, interdisciplinary integration, and message design while acknowledging accessibility concerns. Together, these works illustrate how communication research informs health, ethics, education, and community engagement in both local and global contexts.
This special issue of the Utah Journal of Communication celebrates both the breadth and specificity of health communication work in our state, as well as other institutions across the nation. The contributors highlight the ways researchers are not only engaging with national conversations but also shaping them. As health issues continue to evolve, so too must our scholarly and practical approaches to communication. The work presented here reminds us that the future of public health depends not only on scientific discovery but also on our ability to listen, explain, connect, and build trust. Utah’s researchers are helping lead that charge, and this issue stands as a testament to their impact.
References
Brockriede, W. (1972). Arguers as lovers. Philosophy & Rhetoric, 5(1), 1–11.
Coombs, H. V., & Dietze-Hermosa, M. (2025). Bridging mental health and communication: A review of The Handbook of Mental Health Communication. Utah Journal of Communication, 3(2), 156–158. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17719625
Dam, L. (2025). Body image and advertising effectiveness: Examining spokesperson physical attractiveness and social comparison. Utah Journal of Communication, 3(2), 132–137. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17719383
Davis, S. L. (2025). Political determinants of digital health: Beyond the rainbow. Health Promotion International, 40(2).
Fitzgerald, J., & Adkisson, H. (2025). Research and finding credible sources scavenger hunt GIFT. Utah Journal of Communication, 3(2), 152–155. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17719590
Fullerton, L. K., & Coombs, H. V. (2025). Arguers as players: A game theory reframing of Brockriede’s seminal essay. Utah Journal of Communication, 3(2), 145–151. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17719554
Julius, M. R., & Farmer, J. D. (2025). “There’s nobody else here, right?”: Concertive control in rural health. Utah Journal of Communication, 3(2), 126–131. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17719320
McCullock, S. P., Hildenbrand, M. G., Schmitz, K. J., & Perrault, E. K. (2021). The state of health communication research: A content analysis of articles published in Journal of Health Communication and Health Communication (2010–2019). Journal of Health Communication, 26(1), 28–38.
Rothermich, K., Baker-Iyore, R. P., Dowson, D. S., Ragsdale, H., Eanes, E., McNeill, M., … & Bobb, S. C. (2025). Patient-provider communication and health disparities: An experiment exploring language proficiency and communication accommodation. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 1–13.
Sedegah, S., Asemanyi, A. A., & Agyei, D. M. A. (2025). Photovoice reflections on female sexual and reproductive health resources and education in Ghana. Utah Journal of Communication, 3(2), 138–144. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17719491
Schuh, J. S., Prus, E. C., Abello, C., Evans, K., Walker, K., Miller, M., & Castrucci, B. C. (2025). Public health communication and trust: Opportunities for understanding. Journal of Health Communication, 30(sup1), 76–89.
Weingott, S., & Parkinson, J. (2025). The application of artificial intelligence in health communication development: A scoping review. Health Marketing Quarterly, 42(1), 67–109.