Designing Health Messages: Approaches from Communication Theory and Public Health Practice

Front Cover
SAGE, 1995 M02 10 - 304 pages

How do you design an effective message for a health campaign? This book explores this question from both practical and theoretical perspectives. The contributors demonstrate the necessity of basing message design decisions on appropriate theories of human behavior and communication effectiveness by synthesizing and integrating knowledge and insights from theory and research in communication and health behavior change. This book will be an essential aid to designing messages for use in health communication campaigns.

From inside the book

Contents

Part I TheoryDriven Approaches to Health Message Design
1
Presentation of Content and Linguistic Considerations
7
A DecisionMaking Approach to Message Design
24
A Staged Social Cognitive Approach to Message Design
41
Too Much Too Little or Just Right?
65
Using Positive Affect When Designing Health Messages
81
Chapter 6 Designing Messages for Behavioral Inoculation
99
Developmental Considerations in Designing Health Messages
114
Examples from the America Responds to AIDS Campaign
169
Chapter 10 Choosing Audience Segmentation Strategies and Methods for Health Communication
186
The Right Combinations to Unlock the Gates
199
An Example from the Office of Cancer Communications 5 a Day for Better Health Program
217
Additional Considerations
247
Recent Developments in Informing Patients About Their Prescription Drugs
249
Policy and Administrative Practices at a Crossroads
270
Index
284

Using the Persuasive Health Message Framework to Generate Effective Campaign Messages
145
Part II AudienceCentered Strategies for Health Message Design
167
About the Contributors
299
Copyright

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About the author (1995)

Dr. Edward Maibach is a University Professor and Director of Mason’s Center for Climate Change Communication (4C). In the Department of Communication, he teaches seminars in climate change communication, strategic communication, and social marketing. His research currently focuses exclusively on how to mobilize populations to adopt behaviors and support public policies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help communities adapt to the unavoidable consequences of climate change. Dr. Maibach holds a BA in social psychology from University of California at San Diego (1980), an MPH in health promotion from San Diego State University (1983), and a PhD in communication research from Stanford University (1990). Dr. Maibach previously had the pleasure to serve as Associate Director of the National Cancer Institute, Worldwide Director of Social Marketing at Porter Novelli, and Chairman of the Board for Kidsave International. He has also held academic positions at George Washington University and Emory University. What students may not know about Dr. Maibach is that he helped plan a multi-billion dollar communication campaign for the Office of National Drug Control Policy in the late 1990s.

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