Throughout the past decade, the enormous growth in sophistication and potency of medical treatments has stimulated an increased demand by patients (and health care professionals) for more information regarding the impacts of the new treatments. In Communicating Therapeutic Risks, Morris examines the elements and effects of communicating such therapeutic risk information to patients. This research monograph integrates studies drawn from the public health literature with contemporary theories and models of consumer information processing gleaned from the consumer behavior and cognitive psychology literature to analyze the patient's interest in the therapeutic risks of prescribed medication, his subsequent research of the effects of taking the medication and the decisionmaking processes one undergoes in accepting or rejecting the therapy as well as the risks involved in media communication of such therapeutic risks. In addition, the book highlights a number of direct empirical investigations undertaken by the author, provides suggestions for improving communication, and gives recommendations for future research. Since this unique book is dedicated to exploring the communication of therapeutic risk between the doctor or health care giver and patient, it will be of interest to academic social scientists and health care professionals concerned with improving health care communications.
