Population and Health Communication (Lec-01) Communication Communication refers to the transmission or exchange of information and implie...
Population and Health Communication (Lec-01)
Communication
Communication refers to the transmission or exchange of information and implies the sharing of meaning among those who are communicating.
Communication serves the purposes of:
- initiating actions,
- making known needs and requirements,
- exchanging information, ideas, attitudes and beliefs,
- engendering understanding, and
- establishing and maintaining relations
Communication, thus, plays an integral role in the delivery of healthcare and the promotion of health.
Health Communication
The study and use of communication strategies to inform and influence individual and community decisions that enhance health.
Health communication can take place at a number of different levels:
The individual – The individual is the most fundamental target for health-related change, since it is individual behaviors that affect health status. Communication can affect the individual’s awareness, knowledge, attitudes, self-efficacy, and skills for behavior change. Activity at all other levels ultimately aims to affect and support individual change.
The social netwrk – An individual’s relationships and the groups to which an individual belongs can have a significant impact on his or her health.
Health communication programs can work to shape the information a group receives and may attempt to change communication patterns or content. Opinion leaders within a network are often a point of entry for health programs.
The organization – Organizations include formal groups with a defined structure, such as associations, clubs, and civic groups; worksites; schools; primary healthcare settings; and retailers.
Organizations can carry health messages to their membership, provide support for individual efforts, and make policy changes that enable individual change.
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The community – The collective well-being of communities can be fostered by creating structures and policies that support healthy lifestyles and by reducing or eliminating hazards in social and physical environments.
Community-level initiatives are planned and led by organizations and institutions that can influence health: schools, worksites, healthcare settings, community groups, and government agencies.
The society – Society as a whole has many influences on individual behavior, including norms and values, attitudes and opinions, laws and policies, and the physical, economic, cultural, and information environments
Effective health communication includes the following components:
• Use of research-based strategies to shape materials and products and to select the channels that deliver them to the intended audience.
• Understanding of conventional wisdom, concepts, language, and priorities for different cultures and settings.
• Consideration of health literacy, internet access, media exposure, and cultural competency of target populations.
• Development of materials such as brochures, billboards, newspaper articles, television broadcasts, radio commercials, public service announcements, newsletters, pamphlets, videos, digital tools, case studies, group discussions, health fairs, field trips, and workbooks among others media outlets.
Using a variety of communication channels can allow health messages to shape mass media or interpersonal, small group, or community level campaigns. Health communication strategies aim to change people's
knowledge, attitudes, and/or behaviors; for example:
- Increase risk perception
- Reinforce positive behaviors
- Influence social norms
- Increase availability of support and needed services
- Empower individuals to change or improve their health conditions
Examples of media strategies to convey health messages include the following components:
- Radio
- Television
- Newspaper
- Flyers
- Brochures
- Internet
- Social media tools (i.e., Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube)
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