Unit 4

Health Communication

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 Learning objectives
At the end of this chapter students will be able to:
 Describe concepts and Process of Communication
 Differentiate various types of health communication

 Explain principles and barriers of

health communication
 Distinguish communication strategies
and materials

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 Brainstorming
• what is communication?
• Is communication mere
talking???

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 Cont…

• Health communication is the art and technique of

informing, influencing, and motivating individuals,
institutions, and large public audiences about
important health issues based on sound scientific
and ethical consideration.

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Communication Process and Elements

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 1. Source/Encoder

• The communicator is the originator of the message.

• Sender are required to filter out the details that

are unimportant and focus on the most relevant
information

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 Source/Encoder…
• First, the source must encode or create a message.
Qualities of source/sender
1. Empathetic -putting one self in the position of others.
2. Credibility , particularly, the messengers
3. making message memorable.

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 Source/Encoder…

• Messenger credibility is enhanced by:

» Power
» Perceived expertise
» Perceived honesty
» Attractiveness
» Being similar to the target audience
 2. Message

• Message is a piece of information, ideas, facts, opinion,

feeling, attitude or a course of action that passed from
the sender to the receiver.

• The content (idea, innovation, or technology) should be

appropriate to the audiences.
• Treatment (arrangement, organization and presentation of
code and content).
1. Fear arousal
Message…
Too much fear is not appropriate
 Message…
2. Humors
• The message is conveyed in a funny way such as cartoon.
• Humor very good way of attracting interest & attention.
• It can also serve as a useful role to lighten the
tension when dealing with serious subjects.
• Enjoyment & entertainment can result in highly effective
remembering and learning.
 Message…
3. Logical / factual appeal
• The massage is conveyed to convince people by giving

facts, figures and information.

e.g. facts related to HIV/AID such as prevalence, morbidity,
mortality , route of transmission etc.
• Logical appeals are good with a person of
high educational level.
 Message…
4. Emotional appeal
• The massage is conveyed to convince people by arousing
emotions, images & feelings rather than giving facts &
figures.
e.g. by showing smiling babies, wealthy families with
latrine etc, and associating with FP education.

• More influence a persons with less education.

 Message…
Emotional appeal…
 Message…
5. One sided message/appeals
• Only presents the advantages of taking action & does not
mention any possible disadvantages.
• One sided message may be effective:
1) If the audience will not be exposed to different views.
2) If the communication is through mass media-
selective perception.
 Message…
6. Two sided message/appeals
• Presents both the advantages & disadvantages (pros’ & cons’)
of taking action.

• Appropriate if ;
• The audiences are literates.
• The audiences are exposed to different views.
• We are in face-to-face with individuals or groups.
 Message…
7. Positive appeals
• Communications that ask people to do something,
e.g. breast feed your child, use a latrine.

8. Negative appeals
• Communications that ask people not to do something, e.g.
do not bottle feed your child, do not defecate in the bush.
3.Channel/medium
 Channel/medium…

Criteria: Channel selection

• Availability

• Cost

• Users’ preference and receivers’ access

• Adaptability to the communication purpose/objective

• Adaptability to the message content

• Type of recipient and their stage in the adoption process

 4. Receiver/decoder – ‘audience’

• The person or the group for whom the communication is

intended or the person who receive the message.
• Receiver decodes the message- the act of
interpreting messages.
 Receiver/decoder…
• The 1st step in planning any communication is
to consider the intended audience.
• It is important to understand the audience from
the following perspective.
• Analysis …..segmentation ….audience profile
 5.Feedback
• Negative feedback: when the message has not
been understood.
• This kind of feedback, conveys lack of understanding.

• Positive feedback: when the receiver has understood the

source’s message.
 Feedback…

Effective communicator is always;

• Sensitive to feedback and

• Constantly modifies his or her messages as a result of
the feedback received.
• Usually not feasible in the mass media communication
 Communication Stages

• Special purpose of communication in health education

and health promotion–to promote improvement/change in
health through the modification of the human, social and
political factors that influence behavior.

• To achieve this objective, a successful

communication must pass through several stages.
 Sender Communication stages

Reaches Gain Message

Receiver senses attention understood

Change in Behavior Acceptance

Health Change
 Stage1. Reaching the intended
audience
• Communication can not be effective unless it is seen or
heard by its intended audience.
• Communication should be directed where people are
going to see or hear them.
• This requires sound study of your intended audience
to
find out where they might see posters, listening & reading
habits are.
 Stage 1…

• A common cause of failure in this stage is preaching the

converted .

e.g.
• posters placed at the clinic or

• talks given at antenatal clinics.

• These only reach to the people who are already motivated

& attended the service.
 Stage 2. Attracting the audiences
attention
• Any communication must attract attention so that people will
make the effort to listen and read it.
Examples of failure at this stage are:
• Walking past the poster with out bothering to
look at it;
• Not paying attention to the health talk or
demonstration at the clinic;
• Turning off the radio programs or switching over.
 Stage 3. Understanding the massage
• The message should be perceived/understood as
intended by the sender.
• Message may misunderstood at this stage and cause
communication failure.
 Stage 3…
Examples of failures at this stage can take place when;
• Complex language & unfamiliar technical words are
used;
• Pictures containing complicated diagrams and
distracting details
• Pictures containing unfamiliar/strange subjects.

• Too much information is presented and people can not

absorb it.
Stage 3…
Stage 3…
 Stage 4: Promoting change
(acceptance)
• A communication should be believed & accepted.
• Credible sources enhance acceptance.
 Stage 4…
• It is usually easier to promote a change when its effects
can be easily demonstrated.
• For example, ventilated improved pit latrines do not smell,
 Stage 5. Producing a behavior change

• Communication should be resulted in behavior change

(change in KAP).
• However, a communication may result in a change in
beliefs and attitudes but still not influence
behavior/action. E.g lack of enabling factors to realize the
behavior

.
 Stage 6. Improvement in health
• Communication should result in improvement in health.
• Improvement in health will only take place if the
behaviors have been carefully selected so that they
really influence health.
• If your messages are based on outdated & incorrect
ideas, people could follow your advice but their health
would not improve.
 Attributes of Effective Health
Communication
1. Accuracy ……free of errors and valid
2. Availability …place where audience access
3. Balance ……where appropriate present both risk
and benefits
4. Consistency …internally consistent over a time and
consistent with information from other sources
5. Cultural competency ……culture sensitive
6. Evidence base …relevant scientific evidence
 Attributes ….
7. Reliability ……source of content should credible
and up to date
8. Reach …….should gets the largest possible
population
9. Repetition …repeat over a time either to reinforce
or to reach new generation
10. Timelines …..deliver when the audience are most
receptive or in need of information
12. Using multiple ways of communicating – verbal, written,
audio or visual.
 Clarify the Message

• The message should be simple(short) and

direct.
• Making things short and attractive including
messages is difficult task
 Consistency counts

• All the materials(poster, leaflet, radio and TV

spots) in a campaign should convey the same
themes in a form of media.
• People learn by repetition and repetition
with variations of media contribute to both
learning and persuasion.
• Penetration requires creative repetition
 Cont…
• One sight – One sound Principle

When we use this principle, people are

reminded of the message more effectively
because they see the connection among the
media materials.
 Cater to the Heart and Mind

• The materials should offer emotional values

as well as practical reasons to change.
• People respond emotionally, not
only intellectually.
• An emotional appeal is often more persuasive
than the rational facts
 Create Trust

• Communication starts with a climate of

credibility.
• The audience must have confidence in
the source and a high regard for the
sources competence on the subject
 Call to Action

• The materials must ask the consumer to

do something.
• The consumer wants to know what is
expected of them, what they are supposed to
do upon hearing or seeing the message.
 Diffusion of innovation theory

 Provides an explanation how innovation, or ideas

perceived as new are communicated (diffused)
through channels among the members of the social
system and
 How people create & share information.

9/22/2018
 Important factors in the diffusion process

• There are three groups of variables which can affect

the diffusion process; namely;

1. Characteristics of the innovation

2. Characteristics of adopters, and
3. Features of the setting or environmental
context.

9/22/2018
 1. Characteristics of the Innovation
 characteristics of innovations likely to
most affect the speed and
extent of the and diffusion processes. adoptio
these include; n

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 2. Characteristics of Individuals

There are five segments (adopter categories) in the diffusion

process based on the amount of time it took to adapt an
innovation. These are;

1. Innovators
2. early adopters
3. early majority
4. late majority and
5. laggards

9/22/2018
1. Innovators
 Are first to adapt an innovation (they want to be first to
do something)

 Risk takers even if the innovation is unprofitable.

 2.5% of the target population

9/22/2018
2. Early adopters
• Are very interested in innovation, but they do not want
to be first to be involved.

• Opinion leaders/respected by peers

• 13.5% of the target population

9/22/2018
3. Early majority
May be interested in innovation, but will
need external motivation to get involved.

Deliberate (check and discuss) before adopting a new

idea.

34% of the target population

4. Late majority
Will not adopt an innovation until most people adopt.
Pressure from peers
interpersonal networks of close peers should persuade
the
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9/2 2/ majority to adopt it. (34% of the target population) 88
5. Laggards
Will be the last to get involved in an innovation
Point of reference is in the past. (16% of the target
population)

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Do you know these people?

New stuff is cool!

Innovators
Interesting idea, but I want to
hear more.
Early Adopters
What do other people think?
Early Majority
If I have to…
Late Majority
We’ve always done it this
way…
Laggards
 Communication strategies and
materials
• Communicating strategically requires a
clearly defined strategy with specific goals
established in advance.
 Common health communication
materials
There are three things to consider when putting
educational methods into use
• When to find people
• Where to find people
• How to involve people
 Criteria to select methods and materials

• For any teaching learning process the selection of

methods and materials depend on:
1- Your ‘learning’ objectives.
2- Other program considerations.
3- Characteristics of the audience.
4- Characteristics of different methods.
5- Costs.

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