The Handbook of Health Communication brings together the current body of scholarly work in health communication. With its expansive scope, it offers an introduction for those new to this area, summarizes work for those already learned in the area, and suggests avenues for future research on the relationships between communicative processes and health/health care delivery. It begins with a macro perspective on the contribution of theory to health communication. It then illuminates the scope of health communication around the contextual frameworks traditionally used in the discipline of communication.With contributions from top scholars in health communication, public health, and related areas, this Handbook establishes a benchmark in current scholarship and research. The chapters included here provide definitive examinations of the various aspects of health communication, and encourage readers to delve further into these areas on their own through an examination of the representative citations. The Handbook of Health Communication is intended for students, researchers, and practitioners with interests in the various aspects of health communication, and it will serve as an essential resource and reference for all concerned with health communication issues.