Introduction to Health Communication
Order Instructions
Health communication initiatives help to clarify who needs to know what and when the information needs to be known. Health communication is important in the health program planning process. The information might be used to influence health decisions or behaviors among people. There are a variety of ways health initiatives are communicated (i.e., brochures, banners, media, pamphlets, or other advertising methods).
Using the readings for this week, the South University Online Library, and the Internet, respond to the following:
Research and select four health communication plans. Determine if the health message or concept had been pretested. Explain in 2–3 paragraphs the findings.
Be sure to support your statements with scholarly references.
Respond to the questions using the lessons and vocabulary found in the readings for this week. Support your answers with examples and research. Your response should clarify your understanding of the topic. It should be your own, original, and free from plagiarism. Follow the APA format for writing style, spelling and grammar, and citation of sources.
By the due date assigned, respond to the discussion prompt and submit your response in this Discussion Area. Through the end of the week, comment on the postings of at least two peers.
Start reviewing and responding to the postings of your classmates as early in the week as possible. Respond to at least two of your classmates. Participate in the discussion by analyzing each response for completeness and accuracy and by suggesting specific additions or clarifications for improving the discussion question response.
Evaluation Criteria:
You should have:
Selected and examined four health communication plans to determine if the health message or concept had been pretested.
Justified your answers with appropriate research and reasoning.
Notes to assist with this assignment.
Introduction to Health Communication
Health communications is a core competency for the public health professional. In fact, many public health workers will focus primarily on health communications and establish a career in developing and delivering health information to target audiences. Others may find communication skills essential to other aspects of public health such as communicating research findings, influencing public policy, disaster communications, or as part of the delivery of public health services. Health communications may focus on basic health needs such as sanitation, disease prevention, early intervention, or management. Health communication campaigns may be directed at individual, family, community, national, or global levels. All the elements of the healthcare system, including government, nonprofits, and for-profit organizations, use organized health communications to advance their interests.
The following are some basic concepts to keep in mind as you review the material for this week:
Health communications is not a distinct discipline, but is based on the application of communication and marketing knowledge to improve health outcomes.
Health communications is multidisciplinary, drawing on the tools and methods of many fields. You must determine how to use the appropriate communications mix given the objectives, audience, and expected results of a health communication program.
Historically, the term “health education” has also been used to describe public health communications. Other familiar terms you may use are prevention, crisis or disaster communications, and risk reduction.
Health communications occur in face-to-face encounters, groups, families, or communities at the regional, national, and global levels. Each of these presents different opportunities for the selection of communication tools and crafting of the message.
There are diverse forms of communication channels the health communicator can use including traditional electronic and print mass media, e-communications, community and legislative meetings, professional presentations, books and articles, direct canvassing, social media, advertising, and many others
Health Literacy
Health literacy refers to the ability to understand and act on the health message. Low health literacy may reflect lower literacy in general, language barriers, or social and cultural factors. For example, some people in the target audience may be unable to read, some may lack access to an electronic communications channel, women in some cultures may not respond to health information provided by a male, etc.
Health illiteracy is a major cause of failed or ineffective health communications campaigns. Often these communications campaigns are designed by health professionals with high health literacy who may lack insight in designing message content that is understandable to a nonprofessional audience. With greater variation in health literacy, more methods are needed to reach the audience. This is another situation where pretesting and knowing the audience are critical.
To summarize, the selection of theories and models must occur early when planning a health communications campaign. This helps create the foundation upon which other elements of the campaign, such as channels, messages, and measures, are built. In choosing your model, you must refer to professional literature for successful examples keeping in mind the knowledge you have gained about health issues and the audience.
Health Education Programs
Health behaviors and knowledge are unconsciously learned, habitual, and not routinely examined. Often, health behavior is unconsciously copied from others in the immediate social context. Health education programs are generally concerned about getting people to abandon their current assumptions and apply new knowledge to deeply engrained lifestyles. The program not only imparts new information and skills to the target audience but also challenges personal beliefs, values, and lifestyles reinforced by families, communities, government, and a variety of institutions with vested philanthropic and business interests in health. This dual goal of unlearning old behaviors and learning new behaviors requires the audience to adapt considerably on a personal level and can make your work more challenging.
These environmental forces can also be a part of the solution. Constituencies or stakeholders are not necessarily the target audience, but they can lend support or provide contradictory information on the health issue. For example, changing children’s health literacy starts with the parents who carry the health message to the family. Important communication strategies used to influence these external groups include the broad area of public relations and direct communications with the medical community.
Many public health issues are controversial and a health communications campaign can be challenged by groups with different and, sometimes, deliberately misleading messages.
Theories in Health Communication
Professional communication programs have an underlying theory or model of communication. Communication theories are developed through social and behavioral research on communications, that is, on how you give, receive, and process information. Often, different theories may be combined in a larger model with a focus on the application of communication to action planning. Understanding these different theories and models and their use with different audiences and messages is a critical competency for health communications professionals.
Health communications uses the following types of theories or models:
Social and behavioral theories include social learning, behavioral change, information processing, and health literacy. Each of these theories can be used to form the basis of a communication plan.
Marketing communications theories use the four “Ps” of marketing, price, promotion, product, and place (access and distribution), to increase consumer demand for the product.
Other forms of communication rely on general models. They combine several theories and use project and action planning to deliver content. Some of these models are as follows:
Mass media, most commonly viewed as advertising, uses mass communication channels to reach large audiences with image and brand messages. The underlying theory is that repetition of brief information is most effective.
Social media, which includes the Internet, telecommunications, and personal electronic technology, is an emerging and increasingly important category. Here the theoretical perspective is to target the individual based on her or his social network.
Interpersonal or one-on-one communication should also be considered while planning and implementing a health communications program. Research on interpersonal communication shows that most health information is received through discussions with professionals, friends, family, and listening to spokespersons and advocates. Interpersonal advice and testimonials are, therefore, effective communication channels, and applying the knowledge of personal
Fertman C. I., Allensworth D. D., & (sophe) S. F. P. H. E. (2016). Health Promotion Programs: From Theory to Practice. [South University]. Retrieved from https://digitalbookshelf.southuniversity.edu/#/books/9781119163350/
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