Health communication

Exchange findings 4: Participatory communication in malaria control: why does it matter?
October 2005 (PDF 6 pages, 170KB)

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What is health communication?

Alternative definitions of health communication

See also
Learning from practice: Initiatives and workshops that Exchange supports in order to strengthen health communication

Exchange focuses on five key areas of health communication. Use the menu on the left to find out about the latest research, workshops and events in these areas.

What is health communication?

Health communication - like communication - has many definitions. Exchange sees health communication as:

a process for partnership and participation that is based on two-way dialogue, where there is an interactive interchange of information, ideas, techniques and knowledge between senders and receivers of information on an equal footing, leading to improved understanding, shared knowledge, greater consensus, and identification of possible effective action.

Through this process of dialogue, information is shared, new knowledge is created and mutual understanding is generated. This then becomes the foundation for mutual agreement and joint action. Where this works well, a real exchange occurs, a dynamic process of feedback and adaptation takes place, and the roles of sender and receiver of messages are constantly changing.

For many years, health communication has focused on the ways to deliver messages about good practice and policy to a variety of audiences: health workers, patients, community members, opinion shapers, policy makers. More recently, the focus of health communication has moved away from the channel or the medium being used and the message or product being conveyed to the process of dialogue and discussion that is fundamental to communication. As a result, more attention is being paid to the social and political environments in which people live and work and the influence those environments have on behaviour change. ‘The individual is no longer a target, but a critical participant in analysing and adopting those messages most suited to her or his own circumstances’ [1].

In defining health communication the way we do, Exchange is drawing on the experience of a wide range of communication projects and programmes and on the research that has gone into the development of the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, the UNAIDS HIV/AIDS Communication Framework, the Rockefeller Foundation Communication for Social Change Programme and the considerable work by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and others in the field of agriculture communication. We are also paying attention to the experience and research that has been generated by proponents of social marketing, behaviour change communication, advocacy communication, and entertainment-education communication. 

No single approach is likely to achieve the goals of any health communication project, programme or activity. Exchange encourages the use of the most appropriate approaches, methods and communication tools to stimulate and support a sustainable communication process. Determining which will work in a given situation requires skill, patience and sufficient time to understand the situation and the health and communication needs of the people involved.

References

1.  Jacobson, J 1997
‘Changing communication strategies for reproductive health and rights: an overview’
In Working Group on Reproductive Health and Family Planning
Report from the meeting on Changing Communication Strategies for Reproductive Health and Rights (10-11 Dec 1997, Washington DC)
New York: Population Council

Selected health communication resources

Websites

• Emerson College/Tufts University, Graduate Program in Health Communication
  http://library.emerson.edu/guides/healthcomm.html

• The Communication Initiative
  http://www.comminit.com/healthcomm  

• Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs
  http://www.jhuccp.org/

Guides/manuals

• Making Health Communications Work, A Planner's Guide
  The National Cancer Institute http://rex.nci.nih.gov/NCI_Pub_Interface/HCPW/HOME.HTM

• Planning and strategy models
  Available at the Communication Initiative site
  http://www.comminit.com/planning_models.html

Other materials

Communication in Water Supply and Sanitation Resource Booklet This booklet is designed to support people who are convinced of the need for change in the water sector and who want to know how to put a communication programme into effect, in and for the sector. It offers guidance based on the experiences of many people in many countries, and outline the steps that need to be taken to develop and implement a communication strategy.

The booklet was produced collectively by members from the Working Group on Information, Education and Communication (IEC) and consultants, and issued by the International Water and Sanitation Centre (IRC) under the aegis of the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council. For more details on the book, please visit http://www.irc.nl/themes/communication/resbook/index.html  

Making Waves - Stories of participatory communication for social change, a report to Rockefeller Foundation by Alfonso Gumucio Dagron
Publisher: Rockefeller Foundation, New York,  2001. For a free printed copy of the full publication, contact webinfo@rockfound.org - request "Making Waves, Job #3184". An online version is available at the Communication Initiative website. Also, you can join an online discussion about the findings of the book.

Alternative definitions of health communication

Health communication:

‘is a process for the development and diffusion of messages to specific audiences in order to influence their knowledge, attitudes and beliefs in favour of healthy behavioural choice’ [1]

‘encompasses the study and use of communication strategies to inform and influence individual and community decisions that enhance health’ [2]
http://www.health.gov/

‘is primarily concerned with the role of communication theory, research and practice in health promotion and health care’ [3]
http://www.epi.umn.edu/epi_pages/ICAHealthComm.html

‘is the use of communication techniques and technologies to (positively) influence individuals, populations, and organizations for the purpose of promoting conditions conducive to human and environmental health’ [4]
http://www.thcu.ca/infoandresources/

The American Public Health Association [5] lists a further range of definitions:

‘Health communication, like health education, is an approach which attempts to change a set of behaviors in a large-scale target audience regarding a specific problem in a predefined period of time’

‘Effective 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 considerations’ 
Emerson-Tufts Program in Health Communication

‘the study and use of communication strategies to inform and influence individual and community decisions that enhance health’
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 

‘the art and technique of informing, influencing and motivating individual, institutional, and public audiences about important health issues. Its scope includes disease prevention, health promotion, health care policy, and business, as well as enhancement of the quality of life and health of individuals within the community’

References

1. Smith, W A and Hornik, R 1999 
‘Marketing, communication, and advocacy for large-scale STD/HIV prevention and control’
Chapter 96 in: Holmes, K K et al (eds)
Sexually Transmitted Diseases
New York: McGraw-Hill

2. US Department of Health and Human Services 2000
Healthy People 2010
2nd ed 2 vols Chapter 11: Health communication
Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office
http://www.health.gov/

3. International Communication Association
What is health communication?
http://www.epi.umn.edu/epi_pages/ICAHealthComm.html

4. The Health Communication Unit (THCU), University of Toronto, Canada Health Communication http://www.thcu.ca/infoandresources/health_communication.htm#intro

5. American Public Health Association
What is Health Communication? http://www.hehd.clemson.edu/Publichealth/PHEHP/ HealthComm/WEBCOMG4.htm

6. Clift, E and Freimuth, V 1995
Journal of Health Education 26:2

7. Ratzan, S C, ed 1994
Health Communication, Challenges for the 21st century
Special issue American Behavioral Scientist 38(2)