Purpose In the ever-changing environment of health communication in digital technology, medical professionals have been identified as important information providers to the general public. In this respect, health science communication competency (HSCC) of medical professionals has been identified as an essential factor in health literacy. Perceived organizational support (POS) as a core job resource may be related to the development of HSCC among medical professionals through its effect on work engagement. Based on the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) model, this study examines the mediating role of work engagement in the relationship between POS and HSCC among medical professionals, thereby clarifying how organizational resources may influence professional competence through motivational processes. Design/methodology/approach Our study gathered data from 1,032 medical practitioners in four public tertiary hospitals in Dongguan, China. Through a cross-sectional study design and convenience sampling, the participants were required to fill out three different surveys, namely the Organizational Support for Science Communication Scale, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, and the HSCC Scale. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation and structural equation modeling (SEM) via SPSS 29.0 and AMOS 29.0. Findings From the study, it is evident that POS impacts work engagement in a positive manner among healthcare professionals. Work engagement is strongly and positively correlated with HSCC. The mediation study shows that work engagement partially mediates the relationship between POS and HSCC, where work engagement explains 26.86% of the total effect. Practical implications These findings imply that strengthening organizational support structures in hospitals may have a positive effect on the work engagement of medical professionals and their HSCC. Therefore, hospital management should consider how to optimize organizational support strategies, health communication training programs, and resource availability to encourage medical professionals to participate in health communication activities. This may have a positive effect on health communication effectiveness and the quality of health services. Originality/value By including HSCC as a capability-based professional outcome in the JD-R model, this study extends the applicability of the JD-R model to health communication in healthcare settings. The findings of this study provide empirical evidence that organizational resources and motivational processes jointly contribute to the development of professional communication competence in medical professionals.
Huang et al. (Fri,) studied this question.
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