health communication campaign
How do health educators determine if their health communication campaign is effective or successful? When developing health communication campaigns, health educators must consider not only the health information basing the campaign but must also consider the intended audience. Ensuring audience receptivity and uptake of health information distributed by health communication campaigns is important. Engaging in literature reviews of effective health communication campaigns is one way to continue evidence-based practice for health education.
As a health educator, you may research previous health communication campaigns used to promote health and health behavior. By looking at what has worked in the past, it might be useful to inform what might work in the future. Furthermore, by looking at what might not have worked in the past may help to inform what proposed changes you might advocate for in the future.
For this Assignment, conduct research to identify literature on two communication campaigns that are used for your selected health topic. Reflect on whether the communication campaigns you selected are effective. Also, conduct research to identify two scholarly articles on health literacy. With consideration to effective health communication strategies and health literacy, consider how you might develop a health communication campaign for your selected health topic.
The Assignment: (at least 4 pages, excluding title page and references )
- Describe two ways to address low health literacy when designing a health communication campaign. Use the course text and other scholarly sources to support your suggestions.
- Summarize the strategies and tools that are most effective for these health communication campaigns. Justify your rationale. Use scholarly sources to support your comments.
Previously used information Health communication is a process aimed to promote health through spreading health messages via the mass media, events or interpersonal channels Friedman (Allison et al. page 43). The purpose of inclusive health communication campaigns comprises of; persuade, motivate, or inform a change in behavior, with the target usually being relatively large and well defined. The campaigns typically takes place at a given duration. The services provided to society generally are non-commercial.
My choice of health communication campaign would be the prevention campaign against HIV/AIDS, through the mass media. The campaign will help people have an increase in knowledge about sex, change of sexual behaviors, improve in risk perception, as well as criticism of hypothetically risky social norms. The campaign aims to utilize television, radio, as well as other ideally means a fragment of the multi-level exertions.
Justification
Mass media interventions provide cheaper methods reachable to larger targets. In this case, this individual campaign targets the youth in the battle against the HIV/AIDS epidemic Huang, (Li-Ling et al. 14). The potential sources of reliable sources of health information include various internet searches pages such as the google scholar or online articles by reputable and known authors as well as online articles with citations.
The primary message of this campaign is to make the target audience aware of various preventive methods against HIV/AIDS, which includes abstinence from unprotected sexual acts with infected people.
Effective communication in health campaign is very vital since it helps the general public with knowledge and tools appropriate to respond to any health crises, for instance, flu outbreaks, malaria and HIV/AIDS (Huang, Li-Ling, et al. Pg. 14.1). Some useful features include; accuracy, availability, evidence-based, reach to a larger target, balance, and cultural competence.
Reference
Friedman, Allison L., et al. “Health commnication and social marketing campaigns for sexually transmitted disease prevention and control: What is the evidence of their effectiveness?.” Sexually transmitted diseases 43.2S (2016): S83-S101.
Huang, Li-Ling, et al. “Impact of the real cost campaign on adolescents’ recall, attitudes, and risk perceptions about tobacco use: A national study.” International journal of environmental research and public health 14.1 (2017): 42.
Teacher feedback:Great job discussing a health topic for your campaign. Be sure to clearly state what the goal is as well as the objectives of the program. Goals should be more general in nature while the objectives should be more specific. You did a great job clearly stating your goal and the objectives to meet this goal. Objectives use measurable terms that describe what you want to achieve. Objectives should follow these guidelines:
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- Be clear statements
- Include just one indicator
- State reasonable time frames
- Be stated in terms of performance, not effort
- Be realistic and within the control of those responsible
- Be relevant, logical, feasible, observable, and measurable.
(National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, 2010, p. 51)
Can you define the objectives of your health campaign for HIV/AIDS?
Reference:
National Commission for Health Education Credentialing. (2010). The health education specialist: A companion guide for professional excellence. (6th ed.).Whitehall, PA: National Commission for Health Education Credentialing.
Solution Preview
Health Communication Campaign
Health educators are charged with the responsibility of ensuring that health communication plans are effective and successful at educating and sensitizing members of the public over various health issues. When developing such a program, they must also consider the needs of the audience in terms of literacy levels so as to improve the understandability of the information that is contained in the health communication campaign (Pawlak). Audience receptivity determines the impact that the health campaign has on achievability of the healthcare outcomes that are being disseminated to the public.
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