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Background
In September 2006, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) awarded the University of Washington Health Promotion Research Center a three-year, $3.6-million grant to create a Center of Excellence in health marketing and health communication. The new UW Health Marketing Research Center (HMRC) joins two other such CDC-funded centers, one housed at the University of Georgia Biomedical and Health Sciences Institute and the University of Connecticut Center for Health/HIV Intervention and Prevention.
HMRC Focus
The new Center focuses on chronic disease prevention. Two large, regional research projects within the Center address detection and treatment of hypertension through the public emergency medical response system, and employer-based chronic disease prevention efforts. These randomized controlled trials will be complemented by smaller, targeted marketing and communication studies that are both embedded in the larger trials and adjunct to them. Center partners include the American Cancer Society and King County Emergency Medical Services. Center investigators include researchers in several interrelated fields, including public health, health care economics, biostatistics, emergency medicine, marketing, and communication. The Center's Community Advisory Board and Scientific Advisory Board bring the collaboration of local and state health system partners with an interest in chronic diseases, and of national experts in the areas of marketing and communication for health interventions.
HMRC Goals
To advance the science of marketing and communication for chronic disease prevention and control, the new Center:
- Brings together scientists and community partners to increase high-quality marketing and communication research using novel methods.
- Tests new marketing and communication interventions to improve health outcomes in health promotion/chronic disease prevention and control.
- Identifies methods of disseminating marketing and communication strategies to appropriate sectors of the general public.
- Actively engage faculty, students, and community members in collaborative learning experiences.