'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
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Friday, September 28, 2007
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!
Thursday, September 27, 2007
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.
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.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
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 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!
Friday, September 14, 2007
Thursday, September 13, 2007
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.
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.
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