health coms final

Public health

preventing disease, prolonging life, centers on the wellbeing of entire communities and involves national, local, and international agencies (agencies deal with emergencies and disseminate crisis communication)

What is crisis communication and how does it relate to public health?

An approach used by scientists and public health professionals:
» to provide info that allows an individual, stakeholders, or entire communities to make the best possible solutions about their wellbeing, under nearly impossible time constraints, while accepting the imperfect nature of their choices

Health Promotion

Educating the public about healthy living, well-being, do's/don'ts; promoting public health

Risk Communication

ongoing process that involves disseminating information and engaging in interactive discussions about how people perceive risks and how they feel about risk messages

How do we define health literacy?

The degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions

How is the healthcare process becoming more complex?

Patient's Continuum of Confusion:- pre-visit, in-visit, and post-visit procedures like scheduling, record collection, directions, paperwork, forms, insurance, health status, med list, new meds, new tests, seeing educators about methods, checkout instructions, and more scheduling

Where does the U.S. fall in terms of health care reform (with particular focus on health outcomes and health spending)?

The US is highest in healthcare spending but worst in health outcomes

What are some things that patients with low health literacy have trouble understanding?

Low capacity to obtain, process, and understand information:Medical language, problem explanation, and solutions

What groups have higher or lower rates of health literacy?

Gender: women=higher

Race: white/Asian/pacific islander=high, hispanic=low

Age: 25-39 = higher, 65+ = lower,

Education: People with GED = higher

Income: below poverty level = lower

People in US w English as second language=lower

Why is low health literacy a concern?

Poor health outcome

Over-utilization of health services (going to the ER when you don't need to)

Limited effectiveness of treatment

Higher patient dissatisfaction

Higher provider frustration

Economic burden

Describe strategies for improving communication with patients with low health literacy.

Communicate in an easy-to-understand language Using plain, non-medical "living room" language
Create and use client-friendly written materials, including written consent forms, health education handouts, brochures, etc.
» Most forms are written at a 10th-grade to graduate level
» Average US adult reads at an 8th-grade level

What are the three important questions that patients should ask to increase their sense of empowerment?

1. What is my main problem?
2. What do I need to do?
» take my medicine
» when do I need to be seen again
3. Why is it important for me to do this?

How do we define communication campaigns?

an integrative series of communication activities that typically uses multiple operations and channels aimed at small or large target audiences with a clear purpose and usually of a long duration.

Explain the 8 necessary components for effective campaigns.

1. Use high-quality messages, sources, and channels
2. Determine your goal
3. Disseminate the messages well
4. Attract the attention of the target audience
5. Encourage interpersonal communication
6. Cause individual change
7. Cause societal change
8. Obtain knowledge of campaign effects

Cognitive Dissonance

When our thoughts are inconsistent with each other or our actions are inconsistent with our thoughts and it causes tension (primary theory, Festinger)
»Three things that people do so that they won't be uncomfortable in their thoughts.

1. Selective Exposure: when we avoid dissonance by avoiding information that is likely to create that tension for us.
» Only read books that agree with what you think
IT'S A BEHAVIORAL STRATEGY; change behavior to avoid engaging with conflicting content.

2. Reassurance: looking for information that will confirm what you think
» Buying a car but starting to regret it. Instead of letting yourself feel bad, you ask people with the same car who will make you happy with you choice of buying it

3. Minimal Rationalization: Form of rationalization that occurs when people perform an action for little reason, their attitude may change to support the action.
» $1/$20 Experiment: given mindless task and people paid less said it was more fun. People with 20 justified it for money.

Social Judgment Theory

argues that people are persuaded in small steps: individuals' beliefs and opinions will shift over time
» EX: running 100-mile marathon—he ran other marathons—he had to be persuaded slowly
» Convincing someone is effective when it is step by step
» When people hear information too far from anchor point it will be rejected, but its closer it will be accepted.

Elaboration Likelihood Model

proposes when we are highly involved with the message, we play close attention to details and evaluate the message thoroughly.

2 routes to persuasion: central and peripheral. we want to know the truth, but also save time/energy - decide whether or not to use heuristics.

1. Central Route: uses critical thought and rationality-it involves challenging existing beliefs.
>>labor intensive, causes you to reconsider your own beliefs, challenging, logical. strong arguments have a big impact

2. Peripheral Route: relies on heuristics/shortcuts
>> relies on existing beliefs and heuristics/stereotypes. weak arguments work well.
» EX: voting for Tyler - base vote off of a mutual friend and trusting their judgment rather than looking at what he is campaigning.

Health Belief Model

suggests that there are 6 factors that influence preventive behaviors. If you want to convince someone to participate in preventive behaviors, these are 6 factors that influence that:
1. Perceived Susceptibility:
» or Person's belief about being hurt by disease or harmed by it is a possibility.

2. Perceived Seriousness:
» of the consequences of the disease or condition

3. Perceived Benefits
» of performing the recommended behavior such as feeling healthier or living longer.

4. Perceived Barriers
» to the suggested actions such as cost, time, and inconvenience.

5. Cues to Action
» such as a physician's advice, advertisement, or film triggers readiness to apply preventive health behavior.

6. Motivational Factor
» is sometimes included such as incentives

Theory of personal causation

proposes that people naturally resist being treated as pawns
» who are required to relinquish control and unthinkingly follow orders
but people typically, respond enthusiastically and with dedication when they are treated as origins
» who are active participants in designing and carrying out worthwhile tasks

mass communication

the dissemination of messages from one person or group to large numbers of people via media including tv, radio, computers, newspapers, magazines, billboards, video games, and other means

3rd person effect

Hypothesis that people believe mass medias have greater effect on others than themselves

Cultivation Theory

people develop beliefs about the world based on a complex array of influences, media among them.
» Not uniform or automatic, but profound if
1. Media images are highly consistent
2. people are exposed to large amounts of media
3. people have a limited basis for evaluating what they see and hear.

Social Comparison Theory

Suggests that people judge themselves largely in comparison to others.
» can become dysfunctional when the comparison establishes an unrealistic standard

What makes the U.S. unique in its promotion of direct-to-consumer advertising

DTC: those that encourage everyday people to ask their health care providers about and/or request particular drugs
One of 2 countries where DTC ads are legal (US and NZ)
» $10 billion industry and 1/3 of all money spent on pharm advertisements
» brands like viagra, claritin, and liptor are as familiar as coke and pepsi
» consumers know options

What are some ethical implications of DTC advertising?

» companies spend more on advertisement than research and development.

» some think name brands are better than generic

» some companies downplay drug risks for more sales

» experts say it creates an unhealthy preoccupation with one's own health

» it causes physicians to prescribe drugs requested by patients that may not be entirely appropriate

» some people are overrepresented in some ads reinforcing health disparities. Like women being 2x more affected than men for a disease but a commercial focusing on men

What is media literacy and why is it important in the study of health communication

Awareness and skills that allow a person to evaluate media content in terms of what is realistic and useful
» it shares information about health and can help or hurt people understand or build misconceptions about health and health related behaviors

What is sensationalism and how does it relate to portrayals of health-related behaviors in the media?

Using extreme headlines and stories to get the attention of people to read it.
» build misconceptions like only sharing the intense and horrible cases when they are rare etc.
» skewed coverage that is inaccurate and can instill unnecessary fear

Be able to discuss product placement and examples of its effects

A sponsor pays (with cash, props, services, etc) to have a product or brand name included in a movie, show, video game, or other form of entertainment.
» become health communication when they involve the way people think or behave concerning health issues like smoking, drinking, etc. tobacco companies can profit off of smoking in movies even if they are not sponsoring it

What is "pathologizing the human body"?

making natural functions seem weird and unnatural

How do we define socioeconomic status?

overarching term that factors in education, income, employment level, and similar variables

Explain the impacts of SES on health communication and behavior.

Health inequities due to factors of SES like home environments with pollution, crime, lacked transportation, accessibility, food deserts, limited education opportunities, more likely to have depression, susceptibility to diseases and illnesses, barriers of feeling unconfident to participate in health conversations, dangers of stereotyping and categorizing.

Define ethnocentrism

the attitude that one's own culture is better than others

culture

refers to a set of beliefs, rules, and practices that are shared by a group of people.

Fuller's reflective negotiation model

2 enacted commitments and an endgoal: sensitivity to cultural differences and to self awareness.
» goal is that these will foster a collaborative space for negotiation which patients and professionals can respectfully exchange ideas without feeling constrained by status or cultural differences.

Sensitivity to cultural differences:
» involves knowledge which emerges to varying extents when people seek out information and when they interact with people from different cultures

Selfawareness:
» culturally adaptive people look inward to become aware of their own emotional hot buttons or ego threats.

Adaptability involves continual process of asking and listening- both to self and to others

What is cultural competence?

the ability to interact effectively with people of different cultures - knowing enough to communicate with them (apprehension, awareness, and accomodation)

Apprehension
» (PRCA) Jim McCroskey: did a lot of research and found that 20% of our population could be categorized as highly apprehensive
» This means they have apprehension with either real or anticipated communication even with people they already know
» Apprenhsion affects their willingness to engage with individuals
» Uncertainty Reduction Theory: Uncertainty makes people uncomfortable
» Because uncertainty is high, our apprehension is high

Awareness
» Are we aware of our own biases, prejudice, privilege, language conceptualizations, etc?
» Increasing our knowledge about other cultures and their practices
» Being curious and willing to be curious and open about asking questions
» Involves not just one's language but how their language then affects how they view the world (tradition, practices, religions)

more on cultural competence

performative vs. process
– performative:
– process:
1. goal:
2. message: ability to craft a clear and accurate message, easily understood
3. role: one's ability to understand their own role and interaction ex: they need to be empowered to know they can interact (patient)
4. self: one's own understanding of self, their identify, self presentation, self-image
5. interpretive:

How do many Eastern and Western cultures differ in terms of their views of health?

» Western as more mind/body dualism, viewing it as balance among factors like relationships, spiritual forces, then environment, and behavior
» Eastern cultures view it as organic phenomenon, viewable under microscope, may be more to the point than a patient's subjective experiences (physical, mental, and spiritual all connected)

communication accommodation theory

people tend to mirror each other’s communication styles to display liking and respect
– convergence: occurs when partners use similar gestures, tone of voice, vocabulary
– divergence: involves acting differently from the other person, as in whispering when the other shouts. Divergence implies that the partners are socially distant (ex: someone shouts, u respond in whisper)

age, disability, and overaccommodation (exaggerated response to perceived need)

accomodation: one's ability to adapt to another person's style or perceived need.

positive communication strategies

1. not insist on helping
2. treat adults w/ disabilities like adults
3. be direct: ask them the questions
do the normal things you would do to everyone.