The six objectives in this focus area reflect multiple dimensions of strategic communication to foster and improve health. They are cross-cutting and intersect with virtually all other Healthy People 2010 objectives. Any objective that addresses communicating with or educating the public or professionals, changing behavior, building and using the information infrastructure, or encouraging health professionals to counsel or educate consumers and patients is related to the Health Communication objectives. The objectives cover diverse topics, including the diffusion of the Internet to households, health literacy improvement, research and evaluation of communication programs, quality of Internet health information sources, Centers of Excellence in Health Communication, and provider-patient communication.

The objective for households with access to the Internet moved toward its target. Satisfaction with health care providers' communication skills moved away. Followup data were not available for the Centers of Excellence objective. Data for assessing three objectives are anticipated by the end of the decade: health literacy, research and evaluation of communication programs, and quality of Internet health information sources.