Explain 3 different approaches to health education
This essay will be explaining three different approaches to health education in detail; posters
(this is an example of mass media) and Alcoholics Anonymous (i.e. group interaction) and
Safe Drive Stay Alive (i.e. theatre in education).
Mass media is described by Ewles and Simnett as “channels of communication to large
numbers of people.” More old-fashioned types of mass media include newspapers,
billboards, leaflets and magazines, in comparison to more modern examples of mass media
which include social media, TV adverts and TV programmes. A poster is simply a large
printed image, usually with a small amount of writing
to help convey the message they are trying to send to
the receivers. Posters are snappy and concise, in
order to get the message across as quickly as
possible so as a result, there is little writing on them.
Posters are used in multiple places ranging from
public transport, schools/colleges as well as GP’s. On
the left is a poster created by the NHS which is letting
under 18’s know that their privacy is taken seriously
and the healthcare professional will not tell anybody
else. This is particularly important because many
under 18’s are embarrassed or scared to go to sexual
health clinics for example, due to the fact they may
think they will inform their parents or any other family
members’. Posters are useful for grabbing peoples’
attention as they tend to be brightly coloured so if
people pass them while walking or driving for
example, they receive the message quickly and subtly
enough that other people do not know that you are actually acknowledging the poster if they
do not want people to know. Posters can be used to target any particular group of people
depending on the message being conveyed; it can be targeted at smokers’, teenagers’,
parents’ or the elderly. Posters will be designed differently in order to target the audience
they are trying to reach. However, because posters are mainly pictures, there is usually not
much information on it if somebody wanted to know more about that particular topic, so the
receiver will have to take it upon themselves to do further research which they might not, so
the amount of information being sent via posters is extremely limited.
A group interaction is when three or more
people are in one place and are
communicating between one another. Group
interactions are often used for health
education because they offer a great support
system for those in need. Support groups are
a good way to promote/teach health
education because there are groups for
different areas of support, so that the needs
