Walking school bus

Our walking school bus posters (thank you TM!)

Evaluating health communication

As usual, this week's class was great. We learned about evaluating health campaigns and the cycle of evaluation-- Very simple...Will this campaign work? Is it working? and did it Work? We learned about ROI and Dr. Engelberg touched on the fact that although most public health specialists work to "make the world a better place," we shouldn't be afraid to admit we want to make money. My thoughts exactly! My goal--- help others by preventing obesity but make a ton of money doing it :)
Dr. Engelberg also discussed employment opportunities after graduation. There are so many possibilities that I am interested in. Working in a hospital-- promoting and shaping hospital based hp programs, working for County Health Services, and working for ad agencies with health accounts are all careers that I'd love to have. I never ever thought I'd say it, but even continuing to work in research is appealing!! (Oh how SDSU has changed me!) Next lecture is our very last class. Tear.

Mini project #2

This week we presented our second mini project. I was very impressed by everyone's work and thoroughly enjoyed all the presentations. For this project, we were instructed to design messages for our campaign, test the messages among our target audience, and then change the messages based on the feedback we received. My group, the Walking School Bus, created posters that were way too corny and "babyish" for our target audience of 6th-8th grade students. However, the honest feedback we received helped us to create much more age appropriate and interesting posters and flyers. Regarding all the other groups--- The vaccination group had professionally made ads that definitely inspired me to try and improve the Walking School Bus flyers and posters even more. The food stamp group used personal testimonies and an eligibility chart for families to see if they qualified for food stamps. The global warming group did a nice job of using wrong reason to promote use of the trolley (riding the trolley not only to help the environment, but also to save money and study for exams-- reasons which might be more influential on students). Last but not least, the Shakti Rising group (a shelter for women) did a great job of emphasizing the support women provide one another at the shelter. Class went by super fast this week, and I am very excited for the final presentations and our class potluck.

It's the end of Module 4- Methods and Channels - and I think I learned the most about messages, methods, and channels while working on the second mini project. My favorite topic of the module was Pop Culture & Entertainment, and my top three learnings were the importance of the source of the message (e.g. Oorah: Binge Drinking- a video we watched designed to decrease binge drinking among US Marines), the use of entertainment to promote health, and the powerful role the internet can play in health education.

Ah, I can't believe the semester is almost over!

Pop culture & entertainment

Popular Culture and Entertainment was the topic of last week's lecture. I loved it!-- Almost more than the health literacy lecture. We learned about Entertainment Education and pretty much focused on how entertainment can work to promote health. We watched clips of Hollywood movies, including As Good as it Gets and Spongebob Squarepants, that have incorporated health messages into their storyline. We also discussed communication contracts, and I learned that one of the reasons I do no enjoy movies such as the Matrix and Star Wars is because I break the entertainment contract by not suspending belief. I also learned the importance of the source of messages. In order to influence behavior, whether using entertainment or not, you must match the appropriate source to your target audience. For example, one student mentioned receiving information about flossing from her dentist and from a doctor on Oprah. Although her dentist has told her to floss a million times, it wasn't until she heard the same information from a doctor on Oprah that she started flossing. Anyways, I think entertainment is a great, effective way to promote health and modify behavior.

Doodling

OH so glad to be back to school and work and normal life! This week's class was.... sad to say it, but... pretty not enjoyable. We had a guess lecturer.... a very, very intense one. A PR veteran whose been in the business for 30 something years. I usually love guest lecturers, but this one had me doodling flowers on my paper 1/2 way through her lecture. She definitely knew what she was talking about, and was definitely quite passionate about it, I just wasn't that interested in the topics she chose to discuss (e.g. how to write queries and then follow up on them by either "email and snail mail or email and phone calls approximately 2-4 days later, leaving no more than 2 voicemail messages"). I don't know, maybe I am just not that interested in journalism, advertising, and PR stuff. Although a little bored by her lecture, I was happy to hear her mention how hungry the news is for health promotion and disease prevention. She also mentioned two prominent issues in public health-- sensitivity and privacy. These are two very important issues to consider when dealing with public health and behavior modification. She told us to be "media hounds" and shamed us for not being totally caught up on all the news and everything that is happening around us. Does she remember what it's like to be in school and work?? I'd love to be more aware of the worldly news and all that’s happening around me, but I have classes and work and a thesis that takes up most of my free time. Most of the time my head is stuck in a HP book or journal article. Maybe I'll try and squeeze a little news time into my schedule, but I don't think I'll ever be the hound she would like me to be. Anyways, although I wasn't that interested in the lecture, I did learn the basics of PR and what it entails. It also made me realize how much I enjoy our class discussions and Dr. Engelberg's lectures --which are always very interesting and also very funny!

Sad

Such a depressing week. No school, no work. Smoky air and horrible stories of families who lost everything in the wildfires. My heart goes out to everyone who lost their home. Although I was not personally affected by the fires, I have many classmates who were evacuated and work with many families whose homes were destroyed. It's been a horrible experience, but it's great to see how much the community has come together to help those in need. There have been more volunteers than volunteer opportunities and the blood bank vans have been overwhelmed with people wanting to donate blood. Can't wait for this to be over with.

Walking schoolbus!

This week we presented our first "Mini Project." I love my project and the idea behind "Walking School Bus," but my group has had a very difficulty time reaching members of our target audience. We are trying to meet with the parents of students who attend Montgomery Middle School in Linda Vista, a low income area known for its ethnic, racial, socio-economic, and religious diversity. The goal of "Walking School Bus" is to get students to walk to school together in groups, in order to increase daily physical activity and safety. The few parents we have interviewed have said safety is a major concern and determinant in allowing their children to walk to school. Most of the parents also said that they would allow their children to walk if they had adult supervision. Although we have not yet interviewed any students, I think the idea of adult supervision is going to be somewhat of a conflict. I highly doubt that the students (especially 8th graders) will be excited about the thought of walking to school with one of their parents supervising. But, we'll see. We finally received information about meetings and events that will be taking place at the school and throughout the community, so I am hoping we will have better luck reaching parents. I was very surprised to learn that this school does not have a busing system--- which definitely helps our campaign-- and how unsafe Linda Vista is viewed by its community members. We received results from a Safe Passage Student Survey taken in March of 2007, and about 50% of all students at Montgomery Middle School feel unsafe walking to and from school. Sixth through eighth grade students reported being harassed by gang members, engaging in physical fights, and being threatened with a weapon. Others reported witnessing shootings, stabbings, and drug transactions. When I first arrived at Montgomery Middle, it wasn't nearly was "scary" as I had imagined. I saw children playing in the neighborhood and students walking to school. However, as I was driving home after the PTSO meeting, I passed by the elementary school and stopped at a four way intersection. The car to my right totally ignored the stop sign and almost ran over a teeny tiny little elementary school boy walking to school (alone). I felt so bad for the little boy... until he turned around and gave the speeding car the finger!

Health lit

This week's class was by far my favorite class of the entire semester. Yesterday, we learned about health literacy-- obtaining, processing, and understanding health info. We also watched "In Plain Language," a video created by the Harvard School of Public Health to raise awareness about the need for effective communication in medicine and public health. I loved it. I was amazed at the number of Americans who do not understand health information, and the video definitely made me appreciate my education. I had no idea that ~ 50% of Americans have low literacy skills. The personal stories told by students from an adult learning center were fascinating, and I couldn't help but want to help them. In the video, the students describe how limited literacy has affected their health. For example, one woman did not know what "twice daily" meant. She wasn't sure if this meant twice in the morning, twice at night, or at different times throughout the day. Another man explained that when answering questions on a health survey, he often answers "no" to questions he really just doesn't understand in order to avoid embarrassment. One woman accidentally got a hysterectomy, and another woman went to the store to find cough drops without sugar for her diabetic husband, but didn't know that fructose and glucose were sugars. The video was extremely interesting, but very sad at the same time.

"In Plain Language" also touched on the need for health care professionals to use language that can be understood by patients. Many times clinicians forget that not everyone has had the same schooling, and that the vocabulary they use may be confusing or misunderstood. This reminded me of a conversation I had with my neighbor-- a pretty intelligent guy might I add. He asked me what my thesis topic was and I explained that I was looking at house rules in relation to TV viewing while eating meals and its association with child BMI. He gave me a confused look and asked what BMI meant. 'What? Who doesn't know what BMI is?' is the first thing I thought. "Body Mass Index. Duh." is the first thing I said. I soon realized, as a econ major, my neighbor doesn't talk about promoting healthy lifestyles, behavior change, BMI, etc. etc. on a daily basis. When he still didn't understand Body Mass Index, I simplified it by using "plain language" and said, "basically body fat." Then he got it.

After the video we played with a health literacy program called SMOG... so much fun! This site determines the readability level of written material, and helps match the reading level of health information with the reading ability of target audiences. I liked it.

It's the end of Module 2-- Know Your Target Audiences-- and my top three learnings were the importance of segmentation to categorize and understand your target audience, the effects of low literacy on health, and the drastic need to improve health literacy in the United States. I thought Rocio's presentation on hypertension was amazing, and it gave me a much better understanding of what we should be doing for our group projects. I enjoyed reading "Is There a Hard-To-Reach Audience?" and thought Dervin's "alternative conceptualizations" to preconceptions of "hard-to-reach" individuals were fascinating. As far as designing health campaigns, I learned that effective communication should be viewed as an exchange between participants and that engaging members of your target audience is necessary to clearly understand them. I also enjoyed VALS, PRIZM NE, and SMOG-- all of which I am sure I will continue to use!

Vals and prizm ne

This week we learned about VALS and PRIZM NE, two online segmentation tools used to categorize individuals and help businesses create more effective campaigns. While the VALS survey segments individuals based on personality traits, PRIZM NE uses zip codes to describe an area's demographic characteristics, lifestyle preferences, and consumer behaviors. I loved the PRIZM NE website and spent a good amount of time entering various zip codes of cities in which I have lived. When I entered 92109, the typical stereotypes of PB were shown in its segments. These segments included "City Startups," "Up & Comers," and "Brite Lites, Lil City." The population was described as young, college graduates interested in athletic activities, nightlife entertainment, cafes, blind date MTV, and snowboarding. I entered 92648 for home in Huntington Beach and got a little homesick! The stereotypes of Orange County were a bit much but pretty true and made me laugh. The segments for this area included "American Dreams," "Money and Brains," and "Bohemian Mix." The population was described as ethnically diverse, high income professionals interested in fitness clubs, clothing boutiques, and technology. Interests that reminded me of my family included the mini cooper, a car my sister has been dying to get, and Newsweek, a magazine that can always be found next to my father's spot on the couch.

These segmentation tools help answer questions about target audiences in regards to what they like, where they live, and how they can be reached. This week I learned that people do like to categorize themselves. I learned the importance of active listening skills and understanding the mind of the consumer. Classifying people into segments is an important tool in designing effective campaigns and something I will definitely use in my group project on walkable communities!

Being fat sucks

'Being Fat Sucks.' Such a good article- long, but good! I found it in the SD Reader, and the author makes really good points about making lifestyle changes and losing weight to be healthy, not just skinny. She also touches on the social stigma that is associated with overweight and the fact that while we live in a society preoccupied with food and eating, many overweight and obese individuals experience stigmatization and discrimination. Her story is touching and inspiring. Here's the link. Copy, paste, and enjoy!

http://www.sdreader.com/php/cover.php?mode=article&showpg=1&id=20070927

I love health promotion

Guts and sushi

Spill You Guts Part II
So, this week we were supposed to use our formative research techniques (body language, eye contact, open ended Qs, etc.) with strangers outside the health promotion program in order to get them to talk. We were also supposed to bring up some kind of health message. Each one of the strangers that I used my techniques on this week made me laugh. I learned that one of the easiest ways to get people to start talking about health is to mention that I am a public health grad student working for an obesity prevention research project. Right away each of the strangers went off on how fat America is, and made it quite clear how healthy their families are. One of the strangers I was talking to was a man at the car wash. He had just eaten lunch from the in-n-out next door, had a strawberry milkshake in hand, and was bashing on McDonald's and TV. He then went on in detail to explain both his exercise regimen, and the reason for his red and white, palm tree covered to-go cup. Another woman at the grocery store had me look inside her shopping cart to verify that she was a healthy eater. Ha.

Segmentation by Sushi
As always, lab was fun. Not only did I get a better understanding of segmentation, but I also learned a little more about my classmates. 'Segmentation by Sushi' showed me many different ways of breaking down your population. It also showed me assumptions and stereotypes we make based on how we group our target audience. For example, when we divided into groups based on geographic location of our houses, one student said that the students who lived at the beach were "partiers". A smarter student (Kidding, Saps!) said the beach people were probably very active since most people who live near the beach spend time outdoors riding cruisers, walking, surfing, etc.

Again, another informative and interesting class!

Anti-smoking advert 'is too frightening'

I found this article online and it totally reminded me of this week's health comm class. Dr. Engelberg had us think about how far we would be willing to go in order to get the right behavior. Would we use sex appeal? Deception? Social influence? Fear? As the article describes, the adverts used in this campaign were too frightening for children in the UK. Although graphic, it's pretty powerful.



A health campaign which showed smokers being snatched by fish hooks in their mouths has been criticised for frightening children.

The Advertising Standards Authority received 744 complaints about the Department of Health TV commercials and posters.


A TV advert showed a woman folding clothes while a child watched TV. The next second the woman was dragged from the room by a fish hook attached to a wire.

A man walking down a street was also seen being dragged along the ground and over a car bonnet by a hook and wire into a shop selling cigarettes.


The aim was to demonstrate the addiction to tobacco and highlight a Government campaign to help smokers kick the habit.


A series of billboard posters showed smokers with pained expressions and a taught wire pulling on hooks embedded above their lips.


The campaign attracted the highest number of complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority for two years. Today, the authority criticisesthe handling of the Government-health initiative.


The official watchdog said most of those who complained considered the images were "offensive, frightening and distressing", particularly to children.


It ruled that the commercials cannot be shown during children or family viewing times. It seems the posters will be banned outright.


The Department of Health said the adverts were designed to confront smokers with the controlling nature of their addiction and were not meant merely to attract attention or to be gratuitous.

Week 4 was not a bore

What motivates someone to care about an issue? This is the main idea of Wrong Reason Health Promotion, one of the major concepts of this week’s class. I was somewhat confused in the beginning of class, as I kept thinking “wrong” meant something negative. However, Dr. Engelberg soon explained that “wrong” simply refers to the fact that the reason someone engages in a behavior is based on a reason that works for them, and not a traditional public health reason. One student gave a funny but perfect example of students at SDSU’s gym. While the traditional public health reasons for exercising include managing your weight, having more energy, reducing risk of developing depression and diseases, strengthening your heart and bones, improving overall well-being, etc. etc. etc., many students (and in my case almost everyone who goes to the 24 Hour in Pacific Beach) go to the gym to strut around in spandex and meet someone of the opposite sex. Although it might be the “wrong reason,” at least they are going!

This week we also discussed formative research and selectivity. Formative research seeks to answer questions about the interests, characteristics, and needs of the target audience. Selectivity refers to personal relevance and where we choose to put our attention. Every day we are bombarded with thousands of messages, and personal relevance greatly influences which messages we pay attention to and remember. Selectivity applies to formative research as we must understand what is relevant to our target audience and what will best capture their attention.

My favorite part of class was practicing our formative research skills in lab. One way of learning about your target audience is through focus groups. So, divided into groups of 3, we had pretend focus group time. Although I have never participated in focus groups, I have always been extremely interested in them and other forms of qualitative research. In lab I practiced being an observer, an interviewer, and a 14 year old pregnant interviewee. At first it was hard to be serious as I worked with two of my closest friends in the program (Sorry Dr. Engelberg, I know we weren’t supposed to!) , but I learned a lot from the experience. As an interviewer, I learned you have to keep asking open ended questions or the conversation will stop, and that you must be attentive and prepared for anything the interviewee might say-- no matter how shocking it is. As an interviewee, I was able so say anything I wanted and discuss anything that was on my mind. Finally, as an observer, I got to see the importance of using body language and nonverbal behaviors such as eye contact and posture to show interest in your group and your topic.

So, it’s the end of Module 1- Establishing a Framework for Health Communication, and after only 3 classes of PH663, I feel like I have learned a great deal about communication and target audiences. I even learned how to blog! :) To me, the top three learnings have been on the importance of understanding your target audience, Dual Process Persuasion, and focus groups as a means of formative research. I loved the focus group lab and hope that real focus groups will be in my future. I will definitely take what I have learned about understanding your audience and personal relevance and apply it to any career I may have in behavior modification.

Oh! One more thing I want to say. This week we were assigned to a group project and I am so very excited about it. My group will be working with the Healthy Communities and Lifestyles Committee to promote safe and walkable communities within San Diego. The idea behind this is that environmental barriers reduce the amount of physical activity that many children engage in, which contributes to the childhood obesity epidemic. Healthy Communities & Lifestyles Committee is considering using the “Walking School Bus” model and a project called “Taking Back the Park” to promote walkable communities and increase physical activity. My group will interview members of the target audience and develop and test messages for a campaign to connect community members with the Committee's project. I think it will be a lot of work, but I am very excited to get more involved with the community, and of course, contribute to obesity prevention!

This makes me smile

SMCRD

This week’s class focused on the key elements of communication (Source, Message, Channel, Receiver, and Destination) and how theory shapes health campaigns.

One of the main points I took from this week’s lecture and readings is the importance of understanding your target audience. As health promoters we want to modify behavior and encourage our target audience to engage in healthy behaviors. In order to influence and ultimately change any behavior, we must understand who our target audience is, what they like, how they think, and who will best influence and motive them.

My favorite reading of the week was a piece on Dual Processing Persuasion. I remember reading about this when I was a psychology undergrad at UCSB, but I did not fully appreciate its message until now. Dual Process claims that people think in two different modes: systematic and heuristic. According to Dual Process, our way of thinking determines influence. A person who is thinking systematically is carefully thinking and looking for evidence, facts, and other arguments. On the other hand, a person who is thinking heuristically is not thinking very carefully at all, but rather skimming the surface for main ideas and cues. In order to influence behavior, we must understand which mode of thinking our target audience is using and then match the right influential tools (arguments or cues) with their mode.

Last but not least, lab was fantastic. Divided into groups we were asked to apply what we learned and develop health campaigns for different target audiences. My group was assigned to a campaign promoting physical activity for teens. Thinking about the power of social influence amongst most teenagers, my group decided that a celebrity speaker, and in particular Hannah Montana (Supposedly she’s a big teenage superstar?), promoting “Get fit with friends” would work quite nicely. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the other campaigns, and once again saw the importance of designing messages according your target audience.

Fabulous

"Health Comm!" is honestly the first thing I thought of when my alarm clock went off on Monday morning at 6:45am. I have been waiting to take 663 ever since the day I saw PH 663 Health Communication listed as a required class for HP students in the SDSU Graduate Bulletin. There it was. Listed under PH Research Methods & Proposal Writing, how could Health Comm not sound enticing? My roommate Kacy, a Communication major herself, handed me her Health Comm textbook and told me the class would be, and I quote, "Absolutely Fabulous."

So, I'm back to school after a summer of working, traveling, and relaxing, and... I LOVE IT! After just 2 hours and 40 minutes of 663, I think my roommate was right. I'm new to this whole blogging thing, and I know very little about advertising, communication theories, campaign development, and all that comm stuff, but I am super excited to learn about it.

The 1st day of 663 was quite eye opening. We watched CDC Health Communications: The First 50 Years. Great video. Short but sweet. As the title implies, the video highlights all the major public health issues from the past 50 years. Decade by decade, the video shows how public health issues have changed and the different ways in which they have been advertised. These issues include smoking, vaccinations, safe sex, vehicular safety, mammograms, healthy eating, breastfeeding, drug use, and many more. Personally, the video reminded me just how broad public health is and the many public health issues that exist. I realized that I often get so involved with my passion for obesity prevention, healthy eating, and physical activity that I forget health promotion incorporates so many other public health issues.

When asked what would be included in the next video for the CDC (2000-2050), obesity and diabetes immediately came to my mind. Other concerns included skin cancer and global warming. Some students thought there might be a cure for AIDS or an end to all crazy fad diets. It's hard to predict what the major public health issues will be in the next fifty years, but one thing I learned from the short 10 minute video is that there will be many and they will be changing!