International Congress on Health Communication: Third Edition

The International Congress on Health Communication returns to Barcelona on 22 and 23 October 2026, when the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital Campus hosts its third edition. Remote participation will also be possible. The event is organised with support from EUHA, the European University Hospital Alliance. IRCCS San Raffaele Hospital and Vita-Salute San Raffaele University (UniSR) are both EUHA members. UniSR will take part with a live stream on 23 October at 12:15pm, broadcasting from the SimLab, the University’s advanced simulation centre.

Vall d’Hebron hosted the first edition in 2024 with EUHA’s support, and UniSR helped shape the programme and the speaker line-up. More than 450 communication professionals, doctors, researchers and journalists from around the world attended. Their conclusions fed into a health communication guide, later shared with the European Union. The second edition, in 2025, took a different angle: Challenges in a Changing World. Sessions explored communication in crisis, emergency and wartime contexts, the role of public figures as health ambassadors, and new professional profiles in the field.

The 2026 congress brings together representatives from media, communication, marketing and the entertainment industry to examine health communication in real time. Communicating Health Live is the theme chosen for this edition. It will explore how health is portrayed across media, institutional communication, film and television, particularly in contexts marked by speed, uncertainty and high-pressure decision-making.

How does health communication change when pressure is high, time is short and the facts are still uncertain? The session Communicating from the Frontline of Health, with representatives from the World Health Organization, will address these questions. Solving Crises Under Pressure looks at the strategic management of crisis communication. The keynote lecture and the round table When Health Is Breaking News Worldwide will focus on the relationship between health and information. International journalists will discuss how to reconcile timeliness, public interest and journalistic responsibility when health news breaks in real time.

The congress will also examine how films, TV series and documentaries help shape public perceptions of medicine and healthcare professions. Creatives, producers and screenwriters from major television productions, including Grey’s Anatomy, will join communication professionals and members of the medical community to discuss the relationship between fiction and reality in the representation of health.

Healthcare marketing campaigns must balance public engagement, institutional credibility and the accuracy of information, especially in real-time communication, where feedback is immediate and conditions can shift quickly. The session Live Marketing in Health Campaigns will explore these challenges with contributions from industry representatives.

The session AI in Communication: Strategies and Actions will focus on how artificial intelligence is used to produce online and offline content, develop marketing and communication campaigns, and build editorial plans. It will look in particular at how AI agents can automate the most repetitive tasks in communication roles, while keeping human decision-making at the centre.

Communicating health also means giving voice to patients and the communities they form. Online and offline, these communities play an active part in spreading health information and building trust with medicine and its representatives. These themes are explored in the session Patients’ Voice.

The International Congress on Health Communication will take place on 22 and 23 October 2026 at the Vall d’Hebron University Hospital Campus in Barcelona, and online. The congress is open to students, professionals and anyone interested in health communication.

This link gives access to the full programme. To register, complete this form, choosing to attend in person or online.