Health 2023 Yara
Communication Lilie de Leon
Health Communication Summary
HEALTH COMMUNICATION ...................................................................................................................... - 3 -
WHAT IS HEALTH COMMUNICATION............................................................................................................... - 3 -
Health Communication in the twenty first century: Key Characteristics and Defining features. ............. - 3 -
Key Characteristics: ................................................................................................................................................ - 4 -
People-centered ....................................................................................................................................................... - 4 -
Evidence-based ....................................................................................................................................................... - 4 -
Multidisciplinary ..................................................................................................................................................... - 4 -
Strategic .................................................................................................................................................................. - 5 -
Process-oriented ...................................................................................................................................................... - 5 -
Cost-effective .......................................................................................................................................................... - 5 -
Creative in support of strategy ................................................................................................................................ - 5 -
Audience- and media-specific................................................................................................................................. - 5 -
Relationship building .............................................................................................................................................. - 6 -
Aimed at behavioral and social results ................................................................................................................... - 6 -
Inclusive of vulnerable and undeserved groups ...................................................................................................... - 6 -
The health communication environment ................................................................................................... - 7 -
Overview of Key Communication Areas .................................................................................................... - 7 -
The health communication Cycle .............................................................................................................. - 7 -
What health communication Can and Cannot do...................................................................................... - 8 -
Key Concepts ............................................................................................................................................. - 8 -
BURDEN OF DISEASE ....................................................................................................................................... - 9 -
Societal Burden of unhealthy behaviors and chronic illness .................................................................... - 9 -
Factors that threaten life expectancy: ................................................................................................................... - 10 -
The role of communication and behavior sciences ................................................................................. - 10 -
CAUSE OF DISEASE E.G. ZOONOSIS ...................................................................................................... - 10 -
ZOONOSIS ...................................................................................................................................................... - 10 -
SPREAD OF DISEASE #1 MASKS AND SOCIAL DISTANCING ......................................................... - 11 -
AIRBORNE DISEASE ....................................................................................................................................... - 11 -
SPREAD OF DISEASE #2 E.G. VACCINATION ...................................................................................... - 12 -
VACCINATION ............................................................................................................................................... - 12 -
DEFICIT MODEL ............................................................................................................................................ - 13 -
VULNERABILITY TO DISEASE E.G. OBESITY..................................................................................... - 13 -
HEALTH VULNERABILITIES ........................................................................................................................... - 13 -
Risk factors for disease severity .............................................................................................................. - 13 -
EMOTION APPEALS ........................................................................................................................................ - 14 -
Emotion appeals in health communication ............................................................................................. - 15 -
WHY DO PEOPLE BEHAVE AS THEY DO? RAT .................................................................................. - 16 -
THE THEORIES OF REASONED ACTION AND PLANNED BEHAVIOR ................................................................ - 16 -
Social Norms ........................................................................................................................................... - 17 -
REASONED ACTION THEORY......................................................................................................................... - 17 -
THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR.................................................................................................................. - 18 -
HOW CAN THEY START CHANGING TOWARD A MORE HEALTHY BEHAVIOR? HAPA ...... - 19 -
CHANGING BEHAVIOR USING THE HEALTH ACTION PROCESS APPROACH .................................................... - 19 -
The Motivation Phase .............................................................................................................................. - 19 -
The Volition Phase .................................................................................................................................. - 20 -
The Three Target Audiences .................................................................................................................... - 21 -
HAPA EMPIRICAL ARTICLE .......................................................................................................................... - 22 -
HOW ARE HEALTH MESSAGES PROCESSED SUCH THAT PEOPLE GO FROM (I) TO (II)? ELM
AND EPPM ...................................................................................................................................................... - 22 -
ELABORATION LIKELIHOOD MODEL ............................................................................................................. - 23 -
Influences on the degree of elaboration .................................................................................................. - 24 -
-1-
,Health 2023 Yara
Communication Lilie de Leon
Influencing elaboration motivation ....................................................................................................................... - 24 -
Influencing the ability to engage........................................................................................................................... - 25 -
Influences on persuasive outcomes ......................................................................................................... - 25 -
Influences on persuasive outcomes in central-route persuasion ............................................................. - 25 -
Influences on persuasive outcomes in peripheral-route persuasion ....................................................... - 25 -
Complexities and consequences in persuasion processes ....................................................................... - 25 -
Tradeoffs between central and peripheral persuasion processes .......................................................................... - 25 -
Multiple roles for variables in persuasion ............................................................................................................. - 25 -
Consequences of differing persuasion routes ....................................................................................................... - 25 -
Hypothesis: ........................................................................................................................................................... - 26 -
Future directions and contributions ........................................................................................................ - 26 -
ELM EMPIRICAL ARTICLE ............................................................................................................................ - 26 -
“LET'S MOVE” CAMPAIGN: APPLYING THE EXTENDED................................................................................. - 27 -
PARALLEL PROCESS MODEL ......................................................................................................................... - 27 -
EPPM EMPIRICAL ARTICLE .......................................................................................................................... - 30 -
WHAT CAN WE DO WITH AUDIENCES THAT WILL LIKELY SHOW RESISTANCE TO OUR
MESSAGES? JJM .......................................................................................................................................... - 30 -
ATTITUDE ROOTS AND JIU JITSU PERSUASION: UNDERSTANDING AND OVERCOMING THE MOTIVATED
REJECTION OF SCIENCE ................................................................................................................................. - 30 -
When and Why Explication Fails ............................................................................................................ - 31 -
JJM EMPIRICAL ARTICLE .............................................................................................................................. - 32 -
-2-
,Health 2023 Yara
Communication Lilie de Leon
Health Communication
What is Health Communication
Health communication is an evolving and increasingly prominent field in public health,
health care and the non-profit and private sectors.
It can play a role in influencing, supporting, and empowering individuals, communities,
health care professionals, policymakers, or special groups to adopt and sustain a behavior or a
social, organizational and policy change that will ultimately improve individual, community,
and public health outcomes.
One of the key objectives of health communication is to engage, empower and influence
individuals and communities.
The definition by the CDC of health communication is “the study and use of communication
strategies to inform and influence individual and community decisions to enhance health.”
The goal according to Healthy People 2020 is “use health communication strategies to
improve population health outcomes and health care quality and to achieve health equity.
Health equity is providing every person with the same opportunity to stay healthy or to
effectively cope with disease, and crisis, regardless of race, gender, age, economic conditions,
social status, environment, and other socially determined factors.
Health communication interventions have been successfully used for many years by public
health and nonprofit organizations, the commercial sector, and others to advance public,
corporate, clinical, product-related goals in relation to health. Health communications draws
from numerous disciplines and theoretical fields, including health education, social and
behavioral sciences, community development, mass and speech communication, marketing,
social marketing, psychology, anthropology, and sociology.
Health Communication in the twenty first century: Key Characteristics and
Defining features.
Health communication is about improving health outcomes by encouraging behavior
modification and social change. It is a comprehensive approach that relies on the full
understanding and participation of its intended audiences.
Communication is no longer considered a skill but a science-based discipline that requires
training and passion and relies on the use of different communication vehicles. (materials,
activities, events, and other tools used to deliver a message through communication
channels.)
In health communication the learning process is a lifetime endeavor and should be facilitated
by the continuous development of new training initiatives and tools.
-3-
, Health 2023 Yara
Communication Lilie de Leon
Key Characteristics:
- People-centered
- Evidence-based
- Multidisciplinary
- Strategic
- Process-oriented
- Cost-effective
- Creative in support of strategy
- Audience- and media-specific
- Relationship building
- Aimed at behavioral and social results
- Inclusive of vulnerable and undeserved groups
People-centered
Health communication is a long-term process that begins and ends with people’s needs and
preferences. In health communication, intended audiences should not be merely a target but
an active participant in the process of analyzing and prioritizing the health issue, finding
culturally appropriate and cost-effective solutions, and becoming effectively engaged as the
lead change designer in the planning, implementation, and assessment of all interventions.
In implementing a people-centered approach to communication, researching communities and
other key groups is a necessary but often not sufficient step because the effectiveness and
sustainability of most interventions is linked to the level of engagement of their key
beneficiaries and those who influence it.
Most important, these groups need to feel invested and well represented. They should be the
key protagonists of the action-oriented process that will lead to behavioral or social change.
Evidence-based
Health communication is grounded in research. Successful health communication
interventions are based on a true understanding not only of key groups but also of situations
and sociopolitical environments.
The overall premise of health communication is that behavioral and social change is
conditioned by the environment in which people live and work, as well as by those who
influence them. Several socially determined factors (also referred to as social determinants of
health) including socioeconomic conditions, race, ethnicity, cultures, as well as having access
to health care services, a built environment that supports physical activity, neighborhoods
with accessible and affordable nutritious food, health information that’s culturally appropriate
and accurately reflects literacy levels, and caring and friendly clinical settings – influence and
are influenced by health communication.
Multidisciplinary
Health communication is “transdisciplinary in nature” and draws on multiple disciplines.
Health communication recognizes the complexity of attaining behavioral and social change
and uses a multifaceted approach that is grounded in the application of several theoretical
frameworks and disciplines.
It is not anchored to a single specific theory or model. With people always at the core of each
intervention, it uses case-b-case approach in selecting those models, theories, and strategies
-4-
Communication Lilie de Leon
Health Communication Summary
HEALTH COMMUNICATION ...................................................................................................................... - 3 -
WHAT IS HEALTH COMMUNICATION............................................................................................................... - 3 -
Health Communication in the twenty first century: Key Characteristics and Defining features. ............. - 3 -
Key Characteristics: ................................................................................................................................................ - 4 -
People-centered ....................................................................................................................................................... - 4 -
Evidence-based ....................................................................................................................................................... - 4 -
Multidisciplinary ..................................................................................................................................................... - 4 -
Strategic .................................................................................................................................................................. - 5 -
Process-oriented ...................................................................................................................................................... - 5 -
Cost-effective .......................................................................................................................................................... - 5 -
Creative in support of strategy ................................................................................................................................ - 5 -
Audience- and media-specific................................................................................................................................. - 5 -
Relationship building .............................................................................................................................................. - 6 -
Aimed at behavioral and social results ................................................................................................................... - 6 -
Inclusive of vulnerable and undeserved groups ...................................................................................................... - 6 -
The health communication environment ................................................................................................... - 7 -
Overview of Key Communication Areas .................................................................................................... - 7 -
The health communication Cycle .............................................................................................................. - 7 -
What health communication Can and Cannot do...................................................................................... - 8 -
Key Concepts ............................................................................................................................................. - 8 -
BURDEN OF DISEASE ....................................................................................................................................... - 9 -
Societal Burden of unhealthy behaviors and chronic illness .................................................................... - 9 -
Factors that threaten life expectancy: ................................................................................................................... - 10 -
The role of communication and behavior sciences ................................................................................. - 10 -
CAUSE OF DISEASE E.G. ZOONOSIS ...................................................................................................... - 10 -
ZOONOSIS ...................................................................................................................................................... - 10 -
SPREAD OF DISEASE #1 MASKS AND SOCIAL DISTANCING ......................................................... - 11 -
AIRBORNE DISEASE ....................................................................................................................................... - 11 -
SPREAD OF DISEASE #2 E.G. VACCINATION ...................................................................................... - 12 -
VACCINATION ............................................................................................................................................... - 12 -
DEFICIT MODEL ............................................................................................................................................ - 13 -
VULNERABILITY TO DISEASE E.G. OBESITY..................................................................................... - 13 -
HEALTH VULNERABILITIES ........................................................................................................................... - 13 -
Risk factors for disease severity .............................................................................................................. - 13 -
EMOTION APPEALS ........................................................................................................................................ - 14 -
Emotion appeals in health communication ............................................................................................. - 15 -
WHY DO PEOPLE BEHAVE AS THEY DO? RAT .................................................................................. - 16 -
THE THEORIES OF REASONED ACTION AND PLANNED BEHAVIOR ................................................................ - 16 -
Social Norms ........................................................................................................................................... - 17 -
REASONED ACTION THEORY......................................................................................................................... - 17 -
THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR.................................................................................................................. - 18 -
HOW CAN THEY START CHANGING TOWARD A MORE HEALTHY BEHAVIOR? HAPA ...... - 19 -
CHANGING BEHAVIOR USING THE HEALTH ACTION PROCESS APPROACH .................................................... - 19 -
The Motivation Phase .............................................................................................................................. - 19 -
The Volition Phase .................................................................................................................................. - 20 -
The Three Target Audiences .................................................................................................................... - 21 -
HAPA EMPIRICAL ARTICLE .......................................................................................................................... - 22 -
HOW ARE HEALTH MESSAGES PROCESSED SUCH THAT PEOPLE GO FROM (I) TO (II)? ELM
AND EPPM ...................................................................................................................................................... - 22 -
ELABORATION LIKELIHOOD MODEL ............................................................................................................. - 23 -
Influences on the degree of elaboration .................................................................................................. - 24 -
-1-
,Health 2023 Yara
Communication Lilie de Leon
Influencing elaboration motivation ....................................................................................................................... - 24 -
Influencing the ability to engage........................................................................................................................... - 25 -
Influences on persuasive outcomes ......................................................................................................... - 25 -
Influences on persuasive outcomes in central-route persuasion ............................................................. - 25 -
Influences on persuasive outcomes in peripheral-route persuasion ....................................................... - 25 -
Complexities and consequences in persuasion processes ....................................................................... - 25 -
Tradeoffs between central and peripheral persuasion processes .......................................................................... - 25 -
Multiple roles for variables in persuasion ............................................................................................................. - 25 -
Consequences of differing persuasion routes ....................................................................................................... - 25 -
Hypothesis: ........................................................................................................................................................... - 26 -
Future directions and contributions ........................................................................................................ - 26 -
ELM EMPIRICAL ARTICLE ............................................................................................................................ - 26 -
“LET'S MOVE” CAMPAIGN: APPLYING THE EXTENDED................................................................................. - 27 -
PARALLEL PROCESS MODEL ......................................................................................................................... - 27 -
EPPM EMPIRICAL ARTICLE .......................................................................................................................... - 30 -
WHAT CAN WE DO WITH AUDIENCES THAT WILL LIKELY SHOW RESISTANCE TO OUR
MESSAGES? JJM .......................................................................................................................................... - 30 -
ATTITUDE ROOTS AND JIU JITSU PERSUASION: UNDERSTANDING AND OVERCOMING THE MOTIVATED
REJECTION OF SCIENCE ................................................................................................................................. - 30 -
When and Why Explication Fails ............................................................................................................ - 31 -
JJM EMPIRICAL ARTICLE .............................................................................................................................. - 32 -
-2-
,Health 2023 Yara
Communication Lilie de Leon
Health Communication
What is Health Communication
Health communication is an evolving and increasingly prominent field in public health,
health care and the non-profit and private sectors.
It can play a role in influencing, supporting, and empowering individuals, communities,
health care professionals, policymakers, or special groups to adopt and sustain a behavior or a
social, organizational and policy change that will ultimately improve individual, community,
and public health outcomes.
One of the key objectives of health communication is to engage, empower and influence
individuals and communities.
The definition by the CDC of health communication is “the study and use of communication
strategies to inform and influence individual and community decisions to enhance health.”
The goal according to Healthy People 2020 is “use health communication strategies to
improve population health outcomes and health care quality and to achieve health equity.
Health equity is providing every person with the same opportunity to stay healthy or to
effectively cope with disease, and crisis, regardless of race, gender, age, economic conditions,
social status, environment, and other socially determined factors.
Health communication interventions have been successfully used for many years by public
health and nonprofit organizations, the commercial sector, and others to advance public,
corporate, clinical, product-related goals in relation to health. Health communications draws
from numerous disciplines and theoretical fields, including health education, social and
behavioral sciences, community development, mass and speech communication, marketing,
social marketing, psychology, anthropology, and sociology.
Health Communication in the twenty first century: Key Characteristics and
Defining features.
Health communication is about improving health outcomes by encouraging behavior
modification and social change. It is a comprehensive approach that relies on the full
understanding and participation of its intended audiences.
Communication is no longer considered a skill but a science-based discipline that requires
training and passion and relies on the use of different communication vehicles. (materials,
activities, events, and other tools used to deliver a message through communication
channels.)
In health communication the learning process is a lifetime endeavor and should be facilitated
by the continuous development of new training initiatives and tools.
-3-
, Health 2023 Yara
Communication Lilie de Leon
Key Characteristics:
- People-centered
- Evidence-based
- Multidisciplinary
- Strategic
- Process-oriented
- Cost-effective
- Creative in support of strategy
- Audience- and media-specific
- Relationship building
- Aimed at behavioral and social results
- Inclusive of vulnerable and undeserved groups
People-centered
Health communication is a long-term process that begins and ends with people’s needs and
preferences. In health communication, intended audiences should not be merely a target but
an active participant in the process of analyzing and prioritizing the health issue, finding
culturally appropriate and cost-effective solutions, and becoming effectively engaged as the
lead change designer in the planning, implementation, and assessment of all interventions.
In implementing a people-centered approach to communication, researching communities and
other key groups is a necessary but often not sufficient step because the effectiveness and
sustainability of most interventions is linked to the level of engagement of their key
beneficiaries and those who influence it.
Most important, these groups need to feel invested and well represented. They should be the
key protagonists of the action-oriented process that will lead to behavioral or social change.
Evidence-based
Health communication is grounded in research. Successful health communication
interventions are based on a true understanding not only of key groups but also of situations
and sociopolitical environments.
The overall premise of health communication is that behavioral and social change is
conditioned by the environment in which people live and work, as well as by those who
influence them. Several socially determined factors (also referred to as social determinants of
health) including socioeconomic conditions, race, ethnicity, cultures, as well as having access
to health care services, a built environment that supports physical activity, neighborhoods
with accessible and affordable nutritious food, health information that’s culturally appropriate
and accurately reflects literacy levels, and caring and friendly clinical settings – influence and
are influenced by health communication.
Multidisciplinary
Health communication is “transdisciplinary in nature” and draws on multiple disciplines.
Health communication recognizes the complexity of attaining behavioral and social change
and uses a multifaceted approach that is grounded in the application of several theoretical
frameworks and disciplines.
It is not anchored to a single specific theory or model. With people always at the core of each
intervention, it uses case-b-case approach in selecting those models, theories, and strategies
-4-
