Table 1.

Summary of conclusions from the February 14, 2011, State of the Science and Practice conference

Number	Conclusion
1	Effective communication strategies are ready for dissemination through a national action plan.
2	Human relations and culture are important to establish trust with communities, even online.
3	Messages have to be high tech and high touch to engage and empower communities as active participants in health care.
4	Cancer communicators need to know how to adopt social media and mobile strategies while remaining cognizant of the digital divide and basic communication principles.
5	Infrastructure, privacy and regulation, and hardware compatibility issues need addressed to integrate health data.
6	Stories can be effective communication strategies but can cause misinformation. We need to identify the appropriate uses of testimonials and explore the costs vs benefits of this strategy.
7	Health literacy and numeracy are associated with health disparities and require our attention as health care becomes increasingly complex.
8	Patient–provider communication creates important indirect health outcomes when consistent with clinical evidence and patient values. Communication should be improved through changes in the medical school curriculum and innovative physician assessment methods.
9	To disseminate research into practice, we need to require business plans and systematic research designs such as rapid learning (eg, practitioners and researchers working together in real-world environments).
10	Novel, strategic community partners—from families and caregivers to lawmakers, media, and for-profits—have a unique role in dissemination.
11	Communication researchers and practitioners need more funding, especially for dissemination, social media, Web, and mobile applications.