What Is Health Communication? Flashcards
What is health communication?
The study and use of communication strategies to inform and influence individual decisions that enhance health.
Health communication interventions can…
- create awareness
- educate
- change attitudes
- change behaviors/prompt action
- demonstrate healthy behaviors
- create support for a health initiative
- PREVENT BAD, PROMOTE GOOD, TREAT A PROBLEM
Health communication interventions cannot…
- be effective without environmental support, this includes social and economic support
- communicate complex messages
- make up for lack of healthcare access
Health communication should be…
- accessible
- relevant
- actionable
- timely
- credible
- understandable
Upstream interventions
PREVENTION
- Upstream interventions change social and economic structures that negatively affect people
- Makes policies that improve health of a whole population, enact policies at the top
- ex. make a tax policy on cigarettes = people are incentivized not to buy them
Midstream interventions
PROMOTE
- Promote healthy behaviors at the neighborhood, organizational, or groups level
- Local level change: workplaces, schools, neighborhoods
Downstream interventions
TREATMENT
- Assist people in need and connect people to health resources
- Addresses immediate needs
Intervention example
Using all 3 interventions set you up for success.
ex. TOBACCO CONTROL
Upstream: state laws that ban smoking in public spaces
Midstream: private workplaces that ban smoking
Downstream: ads that discourage smoking and connect them to anti-smoking help
The health communication environment
Any health intervention exists with the buy-in of important communities and groups.
- political and social environment affects everything
- buy-in affects the effectiveness of the health intervention
Health communication strategies: mass media health campaigns
- Attempts to inform/influence behavior in large audiences
- Mediated messages in multiple channels
- Show noncommercial benefits to the people
Health communication strategies: entertainment education
- Health-promoting messages embedded in storylines/entertainment/news programs
Health communication strategies: media advocacy
Working with media like journalists, documentary filmmakers:
- inform the public
- show how things can affect everyone
- encourage community participation in solutions to a problem
- create support for solutions to a problem
Health communication strategies: interactive health communication
Using comm technology to inform, encourage healthy behaviors, and connect ppl to health resources
e.x. fitness apps, headspace
Health communication strategies: interpersonal communication
Encouraging talk about health issues between people.
Interventions include:
- help improve doctor-patient comm
- stimulate conversation about a health issue
- more effective than talking w professionals
e.x. talk to your kids about vaping
Barriers to effective health communication: low health literacy
The extent that someone has the capacity to obtain, communication, process and understand basic health info and services to make health decisions. This includes
- reading skills
- understanding of risk/probability
- knowledge of the healthcare system
- knowing medical terms
