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Complete a two-page paper sharing how you would adopt the 10 step communication campaign discussed in the study notes for a STD awareness campaign on a college campus. APA format required for citations and references.
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UNIT VI STUDY GUIDE
Application of Theory: Communications
Campaigns / Global Health
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit VI
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
5. Define health in the public health sector.
5.1 Describe the key issues with respect to the use of communications and media for health
promotion.
5.2 Define examples of theory-based communications campaigns.
5.3 Describe the key issues with respect to health promotion in a global setting.
Required Unit Resources
Chapter 11: Application of Theory: Communications Campaigns
Chapter 12: Application of Theory: Global Health
Unit Lesson
Health Communication Campaign
In this unit, we will introduce and discuss communication campaigns (social mobilization). We will also look at
the steps a public health agency may need to consider when developing and implementing an effective and
successful health communication campaign.
The end goal of any campaign is to influence behavior change and to promote a better quality of life for the
population. Typically, there are ten steps to take so a successful campaign is put together. We will use
smoking cessation as an example as we discuss each of these steps.
Step 1: Begin
As the public health agency begins planning the campaign, it already has a specific health topic in mind. In
this first step, an agency needs to consider and develop the following aspects: time required and the span of
time (weeks or months), money and resources available, whether the campaign’s team would actually
participate and how certain decisions should be made, and putting specific data-gathering activities in place.
When we talk about the time factor, we are talking about a specific timeline during which our project would be
planned, implemented, and evaluated. In addition, we would need the funds to get our campaign started. The
public health agency would also need to put the team together (our key players) and then develop the
positions and scope of work for each player. Some of the players’ roles include making decisions while others
provide and gather certain information. Some players provide the necessary support, and other team
members implement the campaign.
Step 1 example: The town of Columbia Southern is interested in creating a smoking cessation program for
the town specifically targeted toward high school-aged children 14-17. A small team of three volunteers has
been assembled by the local public health agency to assist with this campaign. The volunteers are retired
public health workers interested in promoting this cause.
Step 2: Re-Evaluate Your Existing Health Promotion Strategy
When we discuss re-evaluation of our strategy, we are referring to revisiting our strategy’s goals and
objectives. In this exercise, as we are putting a campaign together, we need to think of our specific audiences
(i.e., key groups or populations) and apply and develop specific objectives for each of the groups and, of
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course, keep in mind the outcomes we aim to measure for each of those groups.
Some
examples
of our
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objectives might include the following:
Title
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to increase awareness of certain health risk factors,
to change attitudes toward certain unhealthy behaviors,
to increase social support,
to increase behavior skills,
to increase confidence about making behavior change, and
to increase certain knowledge.
Step 2 example: We want to increase the awareness of the harmful health effects of smoking. By illustrating
these harmful effects, it is the goal of this campaign to change the attitudes related to smoking. The team is
also soliciting the assistance of parents, student council, and civic organizations to increase social support.
The team will use proven and validated methods to mobilize the community and the targeted population. It is
the ultimate goals of the team to enable each teenager with increased knowledge and awareness related to
smoking.
Step 3: Understand Your Target Audience:
In this step, we want to identify and further evaluate our target audience. Here, we might want to break it
down into specific areas and understand each of the audience’s specific needs, characteristics, beliefs,
perceptions, interests, concerns, ages, genders, incomes, education levels, living conditions, family situations,
working conditions, cultural and ethnic makeups, behavioral aspects, lifestyles, issues, and appropriate
objectives. The key here is to gather all this information in order to select the appropriate ways in which we
would communicate our health promotion message to them successfully and effectively.
Step 3 example: In addition to traditional cigarettes, the team has also learned that teenagers are
increasingly using electric cigarettes. The teens believe that this type of cigarette poses no health risks. In
addition, the electric cigarettes are socially acceptable among teenagers within the local high school.
Step 4: Communication Resources
In this step, we are trying to analyze communication resources in our community. Here, an agency is trying to
evaluate whether it could build relationships within the community. These relationships could be with local
newspapers, radio stations, community leaders, advertising agencies, workplace organizations, health
organizations (local hospitals), or schools. The key here is to make sure your campaign message is delivered
effectively through some of those resources to your identified target audience or audiences.
Step 4 example: As previously discussed, the smoking cessation campaign has a lot of interest and support
by many organizations within the town. During each sporting event at the high school, there will be public
service announcements regarding smoking and its harmful effects.
Step 5: Putting Communication Objectives Together
In Step 5, we will discuss specific objectives of reaching out to our target audiences. One way of setting these
objectives is to apply the SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-constrained) model.
When setting the objectives, one thinks of ways a health communication might contribute to the overall health
promotion goal and objectives. Please also note that successful communication messages need to ensure
exposure, attention, and a return action from the participants. Overall, a communication campaign needs to
do the following things:
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provide key information,
identify benefits of a changed behavior,
provide ways to change the behavior, and
note the opportunity for a change.
Step 5 example: For this example, there will be a poster board. The top portion of the poster will be
information about smoking and its harmful effects. There will also be a section about how an individual can
stop smoking. Support services and tools will be listed (to include counseling, patches, and other methods).
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There will also be contact information available on the poster related to how the
person
can stop
smoking
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successfully.
Title
Step 6: Selecting Communication Media
Next, the public health team will identify the right communication medium (e.g., TV, radio, Internet, forums,
etc.) so that the health promotion message is delivered to the target audience successfully and effectively.
When we talk about these media, we need to have these key aspects in mind: reach, cost, and specific
communication type (public service announcements, ads, etc.). Reach refers to the number of people
(population size) that can be affected by our message. The term cost is pretty self-explanatory. When
selecting media, one needs to be aware of pros and cons of each of those. For example, with radio, our
message could be relatively low in cost, but it is somewhat impersonal, there are no visuals, and it can be of
limited reach. Television, on the other hand, could be very expensive and could be complex. Newspapers
could be lower in cost, but reach and literacy might be an issue.
Step 6 example: The main venues for communications are those that are highly attended by teenagers within
the local community. These communication venues will include sporting events, bowling alleys, movie
theaters, dances, and other events. Communication methods will include public service announcements,
posters, and radio announcements. These media will be minimal in cost.
Step 7: Combining Communication Activities
In this step, a health communication campaign’s developers are trying to address individuals’ elements of
behavioral change. These include awareness followed by information seeking and then knowledge, attitude
development, behavioral desires, and concluded with the actual behavior. This means that developers would
start using their communication activities, based on the objectives found in Step 5 and Step 6. They will apply
these in a sequence that socially mobilizes and begins targeting the specific audience, thus transmitting
information and knowledge.
Step 7 example: This step would be accomplished by hosting a pep rally where all members of the high
school would attend. There would be a discussion related to smoking cessation to set the initial dialogue
related to the importance of living a healthy life.
Step 8: Creating the Right Message for the Audience
When developers create a message, they often concentrate on the following key aspects: the information that
is being communicated, specific reasons or benefits of action (i.e., intended behavior change), and proposed
solutions.
Furthermore, developers look at the tone with which the message should be delivered, who should actually
communicate that message (e.g., a credible source, a healthcare professional, a celebrity, etc.), and the way
the message is being communicated (e.g., with emotions, strict facts, rationality, positivity, negativity, or
persuasion). Again, all these aspects are very important in persuading the audience and leaving a lasting
impression that would hopefully prompt them to change.
Step 8 example: The public health team will continue to deliver messages and modify as needed. They will
also bring in a TV celebrity who is now a role model for teenagers. The celebrity will discuss his or her battle
with tobacco addiction and how he or she made the right choice to stop smoking.
Step 9: Creating an Image for Your Communication and Developing Key Materials
In this step, developers are trying to create a certain identity, an image that the audience would clearly
associate with the health communication message. The key here is to create an unmistakable identity so the
campaign would stand out and be clearly distinguished from the others. This could be words, images, and
symbols that are put together in order to create and design the printed and visual materials. Of course, the
developers need to be aware and carefully monitor the costs that would be incurred for putting all those
materials together.
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Step 9 example: The public health team will work with the high school’s student
graphic
arts department
to
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develop logos and messaging tools. This will be at no cost, will assist the students
Titlein their design efforts, and
will promote smoking cessation within the school.
Step 10: Implement the Campaign and Complete Campaign Evaluation
As all activities are finalized, the target audience is identified, all the necessary data about the individuals in
that audience are gathered, goals and objectives are set, key community leaders are identified,
communication channels are finalized, and all printed materials are ready, we can launch the campaign. Once
our health communication campaign begins and during its duration for a specified period of time, we are
ready to evaluate its success and effectiveness. During the evaluation phase, the following questions would
be helpful for the team to consider. Based on these responses, the team can further customize and modify
the campaign as needed.
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Did we effectively reach our target audience?
Were the quality and quantity of our messages sufficient?
Did we actually influence the attitudes and behaviors of our intended individuals?
Were they really affected by our campaign?
What were the areas that we actually missed?
What do we need to improve on?
Was our exposure enough?
How was our appeal?
How effective were our messages?
The 10-step campaign methodology can be implemented both domestically and globally. A recent
example of a global public health campaign was in 2014 during the Ebola epidemic affecting the western
African countries. There was a great magnitude of social mobilization to inform, educate, and promote
behavior changes to mitigate contracting the Ebola virus.
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