Health Communication Campaigns Midterm
Barriers to evaluation
-Perceived cost -Perception that research takes too much time. -Evaluation detracts from program implementation
Perceived risk
Thinking that one in fact is not at risk, or not as much as others is a useful way to reduce unpleasant emotion
Personal goals
everyone has goals and expectations when they approach health encounters. -What are your goals? -What goals do doctors/communicators have? -How do they affect communication?
Determinants of behavior
Beliefs about: -the good and bad outcomes of the behavior -What important others do and expect the individual to do -Whether or not one has the skills & opportunity to engage in the behavior successfully.
Enforcement
Typically third, and usually unpopular -Influencing public opinion to support buckling laws -Motivating policy makers to aggressively enforce the laws -Enforcement > education message appeals such as threat of monetary fines for not being buckled.
Interpersonal intervention
Using face-to-face or small group communication
Importance of health communication: saves time and money
Effective communication saves time and money -Attentive caregivers/campaigners are less likely to be sued for malpractice -Patients who are good listeners are able to improve their health and potentially save money over time (less time at the doctor's office)
Key turning points in the '60s
LBJ's social engineers who created programs to combat poverty, illiteracy, inequality, etc.
Environmental factors
Several contribute to campaign success: -Enforcement -Product distribution (availability and accessibility) -More testing needs to be done on presence of anti- health messages and message clutter in the media
sensitivity
sensitive to others' feelings; looking and listening carefully to pick up subtle cues. **Cultural display rules - ways of showing emotions in different cultures
PR campaigns vs Media Advocacy programs
-Make use of press releases and other materials to encourage attention to an issue by media and other institutions. -May hope for behavior change. -No expectation of message frequency, reach and channel -Focus on changing broad social norms -Mobilizing public support to achieve policy change.
Ideological effectiveness
-once a social problem has been constructed; campaigns are designed to modify personal knowledge, attitudes, intentions and behaviors rather than to modify the political and economic environments -ex: some think pregnancy among unwed teens is a social problem. To the extent that a group achieves consensus that this is indeed the case the next query focuses on the cause or source of the problem
formative evaluation
-the evaluation that is conducted during the planning and implementing processes to improve or refine the program -consists of those activities that define the scope of the problem, gather data on possible intervention strategies, learn about the intended audience, and investigate possible factors that might limit program implementation
shared meaning
Cooperative process. - Differences in goals hinders mutual understanding
TRUE
Evaluation timing: The further from the campaign, the smaller the effects. T/F?
Mediated intervention
Media are employed, including mass media, little media and interactive media
Definition of human rights
Recognition of the inherent dignity and of equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world
Two-step flow
whereby media influence opinion leaders who in turn influence others; media first influence those with low threshold who in turn influences others in their personal networks with higher thresholds
What issues need to be addressed? (pg 45-46)
*Poor messages --Choose messages and arguments that will persuade. *Too Little Exposure --Getting sufficient continuing message exposure is crucial *Focus on changing the social norm. --Individual persuasion of a social network problem *It is not really a communication problem --Is communication the solution if it's about power, privilege and politics? *Confusion Communication with doing something About a problem. --A campaign without support or follow through benefits sponsors not recipients.
Definition of Communication Definition of Health Communication
- the process of understanding and sharing meaning - The way we seek, process, and share health information
Importance of health communication: career opportunities
-6 of 20 fastest-growing occupations are health-related. -An estimated increase of 6 million jobs between 2010-2020
Public Communication Campaigns
-Behavior change theory and health behavior change have been more focused on determinants of specific behavior rather than categories of behavior. (E.g. Condom use with next casual partner vs safe sex. & choice of low-trans fat foods vs obesity control)
Estimates of media campaign effect sizes are useful for?
-Benchmarks for which to judge effectiveness of particular campaigns -Realistic impact levels when writing goals of new campaigns -Estimate needed sample sizes -Decide a campaign would help meet objectives
Source variables (credibility, Attractiveness, power)
-Credibility- perceived expertise and trustworthiness -Attractiveness- pleasantness, beauty, familiarity and similarity -Power- positive function of the source's control over the listener's rewards and punishments, etc.
Target group factors
-Defining target groups and designing campaigns specifically for each group seems to enhance likelihood of success for HIV and safety campaigns. -Targeting minorities or people of lower SES results in effect sizes at least as large as those as the general pop. -Formative research related to greater effect sizes for HIV interpersonal interventions that include media
Effects vs. effectiveness
-Differ in terms of the key dimension of intentionality. -Effectiveness constitutes a subset of the larger category of effects, that is, the subset of effects defined in terms of preexisting goals and intentions. -Crossing these two Yes-No dimensions generates the following four cells/categories
Fear as drive
-Disturbing emotions such as fear are similar to drive. -Drive is a state of tension that motivates people to find ways to reduce tension -Responses that successfully reduce fear induced by a particular threat will become the preferred, habitual response to that threat because it is rewarding to eliminate the negative drive. -Denying personal risk can be more effective than adopting less risky behavior
Key turning points in the '70s
-Enforcement: harmful or wasteful conditions were targeted for regulation, Nixon signed a bill banning cigarette ads on TV and radio -FTC banned deceptive advertising, OSHA and EEOC took turns as enforcers that year.
Functions of fear
-Fear propels people to protective action in response to perceived danger. -Not guaranteed is the compliance with a specific behavioral recommendation. -There are various ways people can attempt to protect themselves or withdraw from the presence of danger -Some message meant to arouse fear aroused anger instead.
Disseminating findings
-Feedback or feed-forwarding often neglected in evaluation plans. -Results can be disseminated in at least 5 ways: 1.Scheduled meetings with the programmers 2.Scientific conferences 3.Key findings or technical reports 4.Academic papers 5.Online
Long lived, long term programs
-Has consistent evidence for success -Long-lived, high-exposure, multi-channel programs that work to affect individual preferences as well as social and institutional policies that support said preferences. -Programs complement communication efforts with other changes, expect to achieve effects over time. - ex: tobacco campaigns
Importance of health communication: helps health care organizations operate effectively
-Health care organizations operate much more effectively when there is good communication -Supervisor communication is crucial to nurses' job satisfaction
Information Technology
-If access to technology was high and govts assured free flow of information and a free press, this would create "modern societies" featuring "democratic institutions" -If the free press could maintain surveillance over the govt. and attack its failings, then the govt. would have no choice but to be responsive. -Broader access to communication capacity is supportive of the development of human rights.
Natural Media Effects
-Media may not set out to persuade audiences as to which position on an issue to adopt but rather to convince them that they ought to be paying attention to an issue altogether. -Or to convince them that, when they think about an issue, they ought to be understanding it in a particular way. -If minority opinions are not voiced or covered in the media, then others who hold may hold similar opinions are less likely to speak up, reducing their presence and legitimacy in the public debate and strengthen the opposite position
Public Communication campaigns
-Objectives focus on one group's intention to change another group's beliefs or behaviors (p. 22) -Method employed. PCCs may involve a conventional mix of brochures, posters, advertisements, and commercials, etc. -Reform defined as action that makes society or the lives of individuals better, is a unifying factor in PCCs. -Better defined by emerging values in society during each period in its history.
Media advocacy
-PR that seeks to use media coverage to galvanize grassroots organizations and to use media coverage of grassroots demonstrations to put pressure on policy makers. **OR -Use press coverage of an issue to convince policy makers that public sentiment in on their side whether or not there has actually been a shift in sentiment.
Key turning points in the '90s
-Promising balance in the three social change strategies -Engineering: new meds (HIV remission), energy-saving products (compact fluorescent light bulbs). -Enforcement: new laws significantly reduced smoking in workplaces and public spaces, new policies of inclusiveness have increased the participation of many groups in the social mainstream. -Communication technology was the most drastic change.
Campaign Steakholders: Corporations and Industry
-Promote awareness of activities that have public benefits. -Anheuser-Busch's "Know When to Say When" campaign
Example of a low-cost, high reward behavior
-Putting babies to sleep on their back reduces SIDS; thus, low cost and a high reward
How can programs be successful? (pg 44)
-Target low-hanging fruit e,g, SIDS -Exposing violations of public norms makes it impossible to continue what is accepted in private -Programs that use communication to promote awareness work better. -Campaigns require long-term, large-scale, continuing interventions
Earned media
-Use media to influence the public -Agencies meet with journalists and editorial boards, put out media releases, organize press releases, encourage demonstrations, or create other attention-getting events in hope of coverage within a framework that favors the agencies position.
Key turning points in the '80s
-dissatisfaction with engineering and enforcement. -Engineering: faulty knowledge to produce solution. -Enforcement fails when policies are difficult to enforce and policies overreach the problem -analysis of the problem or lack of available
Definitional effectiveness
-the success that groups have in defining a social phenomenon as a social problem. -ex: messages that are meant to provide a greater understanding of organ donation. Campaigners want to get organ donation on the media's agenda as a pressing social problem
The three traditions of communication and social change scholarship
1. Information Technology 2. Natural Media Effects 3. Public Communication Campaigns
Campaign Steakholders: Government
Became more prevalent after Roosevelt's New Deal Foundations operate similar to govt agencies but are less political and can undertake controversial campaigns, etc.
Why is changing behavior so difficult?
Behavior is hard to influence
Importance of health communication: mass media
Wide use of mass media can help people learn about health and minimize influence of unhealthy and unrealistic media portrayals. *Media literate individuals are less likely to believe unrealistic portrayals of eating, drinking, using drugs, and images of body ideals.
Media campaign
Communication activity, typically using mass media, directed at a particular target group for a specified period of time to achieve a stated goal.
Importance of health communication: coping ability
Communication is an important source of personal confidence and coping ability. -People who receive social support often cope better and even live longer than those who do not
The 3 E's:
Engineering- First hope is that a miracle drug or equivalent technology will be developed ex: Noxious buzzers to trigger buckling Education- Often second strategy to be tried. ex: Safety belt campaigns warn that unbuckled passengers will be injured in a crash Enforcement- Typically third, and usually unpopular. ex: Influencing public opinion to support buckling laws & Motivating policymakers to aggressively enforce the laws
Engineering
First hope is that a miracle drug or equivalent technology will be developed *Noxious buzzers to trigger buckling or airbags that deploy on impact *Typically developed without direct influence of campaign
Differences in effect sizes for adults vs. youth
For youth: -Lower effect sizes for alcohol use, fruits and veggies, and fat consumption. -Smoking prevention for youths more successful than cessation for adults. -Prevention is easier to achieve than cessation of an addiction.
Why don't people act right when faced with the consequences of risky behavior?
Lack of uniformity among people in the perception and interpretation of risk because there is often a gap between real and perceived risk. Many people lack the numeracy skills necessary to accurately interpret risk information.
Campaign Steakholders: social scientists
Last half of 20th century they have been using a theory-grounded approach to planning and conducting campaigns. -Catalyst of a new era of cooperation among the stakeholders of campaigns -Confirm the roles played by other stakeholders.
Campaign Steakholders: Media
Mass media publish and broadcast an agenda of issues that are important to the public. Advocate action with respect to certain issues. -Editorials -Investigative Reporting
TRUE
Media campaigns effects are greater when exposure to the campaign is greater. T/F?
Different types of campaign stakeholders
Media, Government, Trade Unions, Corporations and Industry, Social Scientists,
Education
Often second strategy to be tried. *Safety belt campaigns warn that unbuckled passengers will be injured in a crash
Campaign Steakholders: Trade unions
Owe much of their success to communication campaigns -1970s consumer boycott led by Cesar Chavez. -National boycott of grapes to gain recognition of United Farm Workers of America union in California's agricultural valleys.
Controlled communication campaigns
Producers are develop specific messages and transmit them through well-defined channels with an expectation that they will produce measurable behavior change.
Major functions of evaluation
THREE MAJOR FUNCTIONS: -Improves probability of achieving program success. -Help planners and practitioners understand how or why a particular campaign worked. -Provide information relevant for planning future activities.
Definition of Health
a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity
Process evaluation
consists of those activities conducted to measure the degree of the program implementation to determining whether the program was delivered as intended
Summative (or outcome evaluation)
consists of those activities conducted to measure the program's impact and the lessons learned from the study and to disseminate research findings
programmatic effectiveness
driven by goals and objectives that specify the nature and degree of impact sought -ex: ads vs hotlines (both effective; depends on situation. Ads get attention but less info, while hotlines provide a lot of info)
cost-effectiveness
emphasizes whether or not communication campaigns are more or less cost-effective than other forms of intervention -ex: health service organizations are attempting to reduce costs of medical care by reducing the incidence of individuals health needs
political effectiveness
health communication represents a highly visible mechanism for demonstrating that a government cares about a particular social problem or issue -ex: large-scale, expensive, government grant-sponsored initiatives designed to identify and solve the public health concerns of diet, obesity, physical activity and drug use -these programs created a very visible and public gesture of caring for the health and welfare of constituents
Importance of health communication: Communication
is crucial to the success of health care encounters *1 of 2 adults cannot read beyond children's book level *Between 40-80% of health information is forgotten immediately after patients receive it. *Close to half of the information communicated by doctors is remembered inaccurately by patients.
Fear appeal strategy definition
is to get people's attention and emphasize the dangers of risky behaviors, thereby increasing the likelihood that people will engage in less risky behavior.
Process
ongoing effort to understand each other. -Hard to tell when it starts and stops. -How is this important to a campaign?
contextual effectiveness
opportunity to assess context -classic distinction among the three different mechanisms of social change: engineering, enforcement, education
5 elements of communication
process, personal goals, interdependence, sensitivity, shared meaning
Interdependence
rely on each other and exert mutual influence on communication episodes. -How can a patient influence how a doctor communicates? -How can a doctor influence how a patient communicates? -How do target audiences influence health campaign messages?
What is risk?
represents the possibility of danger, and danger indicated a possible loss, injury, or other negative outcomes.
Third person effect
the assumption by most people that others are more prone to being influenced by persuasive messages (such as those in media campaigns) than they themselves are
