Lecture 1
- Effective health communication (article) - in 2020, COVID-19 pandemic spread across
the world. The article is about how drastic measures vs how effective health
communication can play a role:
1. (Unprecedented - never known before) mass information flow - the media was
flooded with information. There was a need for concise, accurate, and valid
information to the public all over the world.
2. Dealing with insecurity and fear - COVID-19 led to insecurity and fear (panic),
people felt a loss of control over their life. This is the invisible enemy. 4 important
elements for communication:
a. Open and honest about what is (un) known - talk from facts and
acknowledge that facts may only be true for a certain time or situation.
b. Consistent and specific information - clear, specific, non-ambiguous,
“layman’s language” (everyday language)
c. Decision making skills - leadership should be reliable and honest and
acknowledge the experts
d. Acknowledge emotions - through empathic information, expressing
concern, and acknowledging impact
3. Promote behavioral change - behavioral measures should be on individual and
community level. Changing people’s routines should be converted into conscious
actions. Intention-behavior gap - knowing is not the same as doing. 4 important
recommendations:
a. Mental mode - overview picture of how COVID-19 works
b. Intervention - in the environment and through regulations; facilities
c. Appeal to collective action - we are in this together; leaders on all levels
(role models)
d. Maintain behavioral change - requires change in self-regulation. At first,
plan consciously (believe you can do it), then as it becomes a habit, it'll
stick easier (keep believing you can do it).
- Risk - the chance of something specific happening. It’s a mix of how likely it is to happen
and how serious it would be if it did.
- Risk perception - different from person to person because it’s based on personal feelings
and opinions, which can make it hard to estimate
- Objective health - health at the organic level, determined by an expert
- Subjective health - health on the individual level, determined by the individual,
perceived health
- Social health - health on the social level, determined by the social environment, society.
- Risk and health communication is often about prevention. 3 levels:
, 1. Primary prevention - preventing (the development of) illness. Prevention is
better than cure. (example: “Don’t smoke)
2. Secondary prevention
3. Tertiary prevention
- The way you communicate a message depends on who you’re talking to. Different
groups of people might need different approaches or strategies to get the message
across effectively
This means that the way you communicate a message depends on who you're talking
to. Different groups of people might need different approaches or strategies to get the
message across effectively.
Inbar’s summary - Lecture 1
- Risk and health communication is about informing about health risks and motivating
people to adopt recommended / healthy behavior
- Effective health communication - in COVID-19 pandemic:
1. Unprecedented mass information flow - there was a sudden rush in the spread
of information across various media platforms.
➔ The challenge lies in delivering concise, accurate, and valid information to
diverse populations worldwide and in different contexts.
➔ The article raises questions about how to craft effective health messages,
reach different target groups, and ensure the message is understood and
embraced by diverse audiences.
2. Dealing with insecurity and fear - the pandemic brought about a sense of
insecurity and fear due to the novel nature of the virus and the uncertainty
surrounding it.
➔ COVID-19’s contagious and deadly nature intensified these feelings,
leading to a loss of control over one’s life
➔ The article emphasizes 4 elements for effective communication in such
circumstances:
a. Being open and honest about what is known and unknown,
speaking from facts while acknowledging the temporary nature of
information
b. Providing consistent and specific information in clear,
non-ambiguous language accessible to the general public
, c. Demonstrating strong leadership by making reliable and honest
decisions and acknowledging the expertise of visible experts
d. Acknowledging emotions through empathic communication,
expressing concern, and recognizing the impact of the situation,
possibly manipulating important figures to help convey the
message effectively
3. Promoting behavioral change - effective health communication aims to promote
behavioral changes at both individual and community levels
➔ This involves transforming routines into conscious actions and addressing
the intention-behavior gap, where people may understand what needs to
be done but struggle to act accordingly. (for example: before covid you
washed your hands out of habit, during the pandemic it has to be a
conscious act that you do rather than out of habit)
➔ The articles poses the question of how to achieve this behavioral change
effectively
- 4 important recommendations from the COVID-19 article:
1. Develop a mental model - understand how COVID-19 spreads and how it affects
people. This helps individuals grasp the importance of preventive measures like
wearing masks and social distancing
2. Implement environmental interventions and regulations - make changes in the
environment, like installing hand sanitizer stations or enforcing mask mandates in
public spheres, to make it easier for people to follow health guidelines.
3. Encourage collective action - emphasize that everyone is in this together and
that each person's actions impact the community. Leaders at all levels should
lead by example, showing that they are following guidelines and encouraging
others to do the same
4. Sustain behavioral change - individuals need to consciously plan and act to
change their behaviors, like making a schedule for handwashing. Over time,
these actions become habits, making it easier to maintain healthy behaviors
without constant effort.
- Risk - the likelihood that a specific event occurs
- Risk perception is different for different people. It is subjective and difficult to estimate.
We need to help people feel the risk
- Health - objective - health at the organic level, determined by an expert. Can measure,
can be seen (X-ray), a doctor can determine.
- Health - subjective - health on the individual level, determined by the individual,
perceived health. A person can experience chronic disease - but if it is not a problem for
the person, then it is not a problem.
, - Health - social - health on the social level, determined by the social environment,
society. Societal body standards.
- Example - someone with a much too high body mass index hears from his doctor that he
is obese. He feels bad because he can walk poorly. Fortunately, he is completely
accepted by his environment and they help him where possible:
1. Objectively - he is not health (doctor said he’s obese)
2. Subjectively - he is not health (he feels bad)
3. Socially - he is healthy (he is accepted)
- Risk and health communication is often about prevention
- Three prevention levels:
1. Primary prevention - you are currently healthy and want to stay healthy, to
prevent the possibility of illness. (like using condoms, getting vaccinated, wearing
a seatbelt)
2. Secondary prevention - detect illness early when it is more treatable. Engage in
behaviors that help find diseases early (like doing mammograms, testing for
COVID, routine dental check-ups)
3. Tertiary prevention - reduce the impact of an ongoing illness. Minimize the
severity and complications of an existing disease (following prescribe
chemotherapy, participating in exercises for obese people
- Most campaigns use primary and secondary prevention. Tertiary prevention is more
focused on a specific group
- Social marketing - when you use marketing techniques to see other things than
commercials
- Risk and health communication have a lot in common with marketing
- The 4 Ps:
1. Product -
a. Actual product - the behavior you want people to adopt (wearing masks,
getting vaccinated)
b. Core product - the benefits or positive outcomes of adopting this
behavior (staying healthy, preventing disease)
2. Price
a. Literal price - the cost of adopting the behavior (like the cost of vaccine)
b. Figurative price - the perceived losses or sacrifices compared to the
benefits (the inconvenience of wearing a mask vs. the benefit of staying
healthy)
3. Place
a. Action outlets - where the behavior or intervention takes place (clinics for
vaccination, public spaces for wearing masks)