title: Crossing borders in health communication research: toward an ecological understanding of context, complexity, and consequences in community-based health education in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands.
abstract: In the past 15 years, researchers in health information dissemination have made significant strides in addressing context, complexity, and consequences (Sharf's "3 Cs") in theory, research, and praxis. The goal of integrating the 3 Cs in this field, however, remains a challenge. In this article, the authors present 6 principles of a postmodern ecological approach to health information dissemination that attempts such integration. The authors outline proposed principles and use a multiyear, interdisciplinary, and interinstitutional collaboration along the U.S.-Mexico border to illustrate this postmodern ecological approach. The goal of this article is to provide a framework for understanding other projects and communities in which efforts are undertaken to cross physical, social, cultural, economic, and political borders.
authors.affiliation: School of Communication, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, MI 49008-5318, USA. leigh.ford@wmich.edu
authors.forename: Leigh Arden
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Ford
authors.forename: Robbin D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Crabtree
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hubbell
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D054521:Cultural Competency; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004777:Environment; D005260:Female; D018804:Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology; D006266:Health Education / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination / Q000379:methods; D008403:Mass Screening; D017058:Mexican Americans; D008800:Mexico; D012106:Research; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States