Doing Critical Health Communication: Negotiating the Terrain of Transdisciplinary Collaboration

Abstract

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In this reflective article, drawing on our personal and productive experiences with transdisciplinary research, we think about how critical health communication scholars can speak to audiences outside the discipline of communication in order to make an impact on public health and policy, health promotion, and health care delivery. We first take into consideration how we are situated in our relationship with transdisciplinary research, as well as the challenges and opportunities involved in collaborating with transdisciplinary teams. We then discuss ways we can navigate the inherent method/ological tensions in such collaborations. We argue that while the multidimensional nature of health and illness—especially in the face of skyrocketing healthcare costs and disparities—mandates transdisciplinary research and action, navigating the epistemic and methodological boundaries is nevertheless not easy. Here, we focus on how the methodological considerations of “critical” health scholarship are situated vis-à-vis the epistemic commitments in the disciplines of our potential allies and whether it is possible to collaborate in ways that can enhance the goal of social justice, equity and human rights within public health and communication.

Keywords

• critical health communication
• paradigms
• research methods
• transdisciplinary teams
• rigor and bias in research