Health Communication Theory and Research: An Overview of Health Organizations

This overview presents the point of view that health organizations are quite different from other organizations and, therefore, deserve to be studied as a context in their own right. An analytic framework is presented through which communication in health organizations can be studied. This framework entails a three-by-four factor matrix, where levels of communication (individual, interpersonal, group, and organizational) are associated with functions of communication (adaptation, coordination, and integration). Research and theory relevant to each cell within this framework is presented and discussed. Present limitations of this framework are reviewed and specific avenues of elaboration are suggested

To connect or not to connect?: floods, fisheries and livelihoods in the Lower Rufiji floodplain lakes, Tanzania

For seven years, village-based recorders monitored fish catches and water levels in seven floodplainassociated lakes of the Lower Rufiji, Tanzania. The lakes differ in the number of days and volume of inflows from the river, and thus provide a natural experiment to explore the links between catch composition, income per hour of fishing (IPHF) and hydrological connectivity, and to analyse the response of the users. The fishers adapt their fishing mode and equipment to achieve a rather constant IPHF of between 0.2 and 0.8 US$/fisher/hour. In situations of low connectivity, during a series of drought years, the less well-connected lakes lost many species and became a virtual monoculture of Oreochromis urolepis. Only in one extreme case was average fish size significantly reduced, indicating a high fishing pressure. Catch was therefore highly resilient to shifts toward illegal, non-selective and active fishing techniques. Fish diversity and lake productivity were quickly re-established when the larger lakes reconnected. The potential impacts of changes in the flood hydrograph (through dams, increased abstraction or climate/land-use changes) are assessed, and management options discussed