Prevention and healthcare are always associated with communication challenges. Health topics are as present in everyday communication as they are sought after and utilized in the media, not just in professional contexts. This particularly poses a challenge for communication science to theoretically and empirically capture the specifics of information about health and illness, as well as interpersonal and media-supported exchanges on these topics, and to make them interdisciplinary compatible. Based on contributions to the first annual conference of the Ad-hoc Group on Health Communication of the German Society for Journalism and Communication Studies in November 2013 in Hanover, this volume outlines the breadth and development potential of the field of health communication. Contributions by: Eva Baumann, H.