el fin

of all the classes i've taken this first term of grad school, i'll miss this one the most. i've learned so many concepts that will help me not only in future work, but also just in life. keeping your audience central to any campaign: whether it's designing a novel health campaign, convincing your friends/family to live healthier lives, or helping someone through troubles, it's so important to always keep them at the focus of the discussion... otherwise we wind up talking to ourselves as their eyes glaze over and heads start nodding, just waiting for a pause so they can change the subject!

talking about evaluation and return on investment was very interesting this week. i was surprised to hear that running and hiding really is a route that some people take! i really thought that was a joke when we were first introduced to the evaluation game. i guess that's politics though... there's always some lame way for people to avoid their responsibilities. i'm betting it's easier to run and hide when you're in the public/government sector since there is so much red tape, and so many hoops to go through before someone can be fired. in the private sector, they watch the moola more closely. if someone is not living up to their promises, and refuses to justify themselves in a review, money goes away and jobs vanish.

it was great to hear about career options in various areas, and see how the skills and tools we've learned in this class can be huge assets to so many different programs.

more presentations!

wow, and wow. everyone did an awesome job presenting this week!
i look forward to seeing the whole shebang in a few weeks.
i thought it was really interesting how the walking school bus group learned about websites that are supposedly "safe" for younger kids. i can't say i really believe in safety on the internet though... anyone can appear to be anyone they want to be... that's how young teens were lured over chats in the first place. it's scary to know how strangers prey on kids who have little supervision or who are in stages of rebellion against their folks. really reinforces that the best way to protect your kids is to be open with them, honest, and prepare them for all the hard stuff that's out there. with the world connecting the way it is, not even the smallest town is totally safe anymore. it's sad. so many benefits to the internet, but nothing great comes without a price.

i've enjoyed this section of class. many new possible channels have opened up to me, and i hope i can make use of them more in the future. i think the part that will stick with me the most is using various forms of entertainment to grab people's attention and open up their minds. once their minds and bodies are open, then we can pounce and casually impress our messages of health and well-being into their lives!

contracts

thinking about the communication contracts that i engage in on a regular basis has made me realize that i should really incorporate a lot more entertainment into my messages. over the past few days, spending time with family and friends, i found myself trying to persuade a lot of people to live more healthy lives and to treat the environment better. some people were very open to my comments and attempts to persuade them, but they were mainly those who already take part in environmentally friendly actions and live pretty healthy lifestyles. so, in those conversations i felt like i was just reaffirming their beliefs and giving them more ways to continue their behaviors. for those who are less involved in these areas, i found myself getting frustrated after talking for a while and it seeming like they were just nodding along waiting for me to finish so they could change the subject... i kept wishing i could show these folks a few videos that would back up my points; to show them it's not just me but also people everywhere who are trying to convince their loved ones to change their habits! the videos i've found out there that spread healthy living and environmental consciousness use humor and sarcasm to grab attention, and then continue on with facts after people are open to the speaker. putting a smile on someone's face really opens their mind to whatever might come next. i want to work on finding ways to open people up without necessarily using videos though, because i think it can make the message i'm trying to get across too impersonal when i'm in a smaller setting... maybe coming up with a few basic jokes on the topics just to grab attention without degrading people's intelligence on the topics could work...

web 2.0

web 2.0 was an interesting topic this week.
there are so many aspects of the web that could be used to further health campaigns. from developing campaign ideas and getting audience feedback, to actually using the social networks and similated worlds to pass messages out to a greater public. it would be amazing to use the similated worlds... creating public health officers in cyberland could push healthy messages to an entirely different crowd. a lot of people are becoming modern day hermits by living life entirely through the internet, so using that technology could spread messages to otherwise unreachable audiences.
using the web more will help programs reach younger audiences, which could have a dramatic effect on the health care system if we can get people to live healthy from younger ages. using networks like myspace or facebook could connect a lot of young people to a cause, but i think it might be tricky to really grasp their attention through those networks. even just using the ad space on those pages to get messages across could have some effect, but then we'll probably run into problems with over saturation.
in short, i know the web is becoming a major source of information for people, and if we can figure out how to harness that avenue then major campaigns could have much greater impacts.

media relations

the guest lecturer we had this week on public relations was interesting, albeit intense! she knows PR like the back of her hand, and really drilled home the concept of keeping the audience at the center of the proposal/campaign. no matter if the audience is a community we're working to change behaviors in, or a media outlet we're working with to further our campaign, the first thing to do is get to know your audience and learn how to communicate with them. she gave some good tips on how to address the media, and how to follow-up with them respectfully. i think following up is sometimes the hardest part of any campaign or study. keeping track of who you've contacted, when, and when best to call them back can be tricky and intimidating when you're ignored. one of the best things i took from our speaker was to remember that this is your job. contacting people, following up, and continuing to press your point are crucial aspects to any campaign. to really make others understand the importance of your campaign and be successful, you have to be persistent!

presentations

This week was really interesting!
It was great to listen to all the different presentations, and see different styles of presentation. I thought everyone did a really good job of communicating their messages clearly. I was way too quiet up there, and should have prepared something more to say! Work to do for next time...

Taking a look at the CDCynergy tool was great. It looks like a great place for generating ideas from past campaigns, and trying to apply strategies for the future.

help the people understand

Literacy was the main topic this week.
We discussed and worked in groups to create simple messages to inform the general public on health issues. Rewording messages that seem simple to those in the health field is essential to getting information across to the public. When our group first tried to create a simple message about climate change, it proved too tricky to just sit down and write something simple… so we had to back up and write a complex version that we could then adapt! Using the SMOG tool to grade the writing samples was great, and I wish hospitals would use SMOG before they passed out information on anything. From medication info to interpreting the results from basic blood tests, they try to make things simple, but the wording can be confusing even for many with college degrees.

Such a basic concept: clearly explain what a person is getting into before sending them off to take care of themselves… I have always had to do that in any area of research I’ve worked, it’s called informed consent! Even though health care providers aren’t running experimental procedures, the informing process should still be the same. Sure, throw out the technical lingo, but watch the person’s reaction when you do that. When their eyes glaze over and they just starting nodding along, you can finish your thoughts, but then bring it back and paraphrase so they can understand. Never just hand someone a piece of paper with instructions and then assume they’ve got it! Most recently, working in a smoking cessation program, all of our information was written clearly on the medications people would be using, and we also sat down with them for ten to twenty minutes to make sure everything was clear. On every successive visit, our first question was if they had any questions! It gave people the opportunity to get their thoughts out right away before being bombarded with more facts and procedures.

It’s frustrating that our health care system is run as it is… the professionals don’t have time to talk to people and make sure everything is clear. Researchers are held to a high standard, which makes sense due to their funding and protocols, but health professionals should strive to reach that same standard. Taking the time to explain information to patients clearly also establishes a strong rapport which encourages patients to ask questions and discuss issues that they might normally be too shy or intimidated to talk about!

whoa!

The most impressive part of class this week was the presentation on hypertension in Hispanic communities. I thought the group was amazingly thorough in their research and testing their messages. Seeing such a great example really helped solidify what we're meant to gather and produce for this project. Granted, Rocio had a foot in the door working with the clinic, but her knowledge of the subject and non-intimidating nature likely facilitated communications immensely! It's a matter of communicating with the masses without overwhelming them, or making them feel guilty, that helps the point stay in people's minds.
I hope that our project on climate change can produce some comparable and effective messages!

We also took a look at a few more segmentation tools and discussed different forms of analysis. It was interesting to look at the Prizm segmentation to see what different groups of people live in different areas. It's pretty amazing that they get right down to the zip code. As Prof. Engelberg pointed out that Realtors often use this kind of information when describing neighborhoods to potential clients, I wondered if there is a print version of this info that people without internet access could request before they move somewhere... it seems like a lot of people would like to know these little details about the area they are planning on moving to; just as most would like to know crime rates/types, but don't know where to look.
Although many of these stats are gathered from census info, it still makes me feel like the man is watching very closely!

narrowing the audience

This week, class focused on how to segment groups so that we can target our messages for specific audiences.
The video we watched really got me thinking about different ways to interview and learn about populations. I thought the psychologist did a good job getting depth from really different types of people. She really showed how important it is to be able to relate to people and open them up to create messages that will attract people and reinforce the campaign goal. Knowing how far ahead advertising and corporate sectors are from health in that arena is frustrating though! It's clear to see that their messages are sticking more concretely in consumer's minds that those from public health.

I thought the expanded demographic survey used was interesting... I've never seen a survey that coupled motivations with demographics to determine a personality type. I wonder how widely used these survey results are in health comm campaigns. They seem like a good place to start when beginning any new program where the audience could be massive.

moving past research!

The past few weeks of class have been interesting, but I must admit, I'm excited to move beyond theories and research! Although, it’s not really moving “beyond.” Research is crucial to developing any good campaign, and I know I will be referencing these theories throughout my career, but I'm looking forward to getting into the more practical portion of class.

The lab that we did really made me pay attention to the details of conversation. It was tough to fly by the set of my pants, grab a topic that seemed relevant to the interviewee, and talk for a few minutes… I was a bit nervous (or maybe just completely sleep deprived from Austin City Limits!), and I think I wound up talking too fast... It was good to watch and discuss others interactions and note techniques I would like to employ.

After the break we talked a bit about presentation skills, and then set out the group projects. I am stoked to get started motivating college students to take action against global warming and climate change! I wonder what approaches our groups will take… Increasing consumption of local produce and products? Increasing use of public transit? Biking? Carpools? Recycling? Maybe we can get some volunteers to stand near groups of trash cans, and scold people for not recycling! Or… how about we just put receptacles next to all the trash cans? Seriously, it seems like there are less than ten places on campus (outside of cafeterias/commons) to toss paper/plastic/glass/cans… compared to trash cans every ten feet!

do you know about bone marrow?

I just had my mind blown by modern science!

I've always wanted to be a bone marrow donor. I've been down for blood, plasma and organs for years, but was a bit scared of the marrow because it seemed like such a painful process... invasive and potentially very risky. Granted, it's been 2-3 years since my last looks into donation but, suddenly, it's become amazingly simple to donate bone marrow and help a fellow person in a huge way.

Bone marrow donation has become almost as simple as donating blood… doctors will give you injections of a medication [filgrastim (Neupogen)], for 4-5 days, to draw the blood stem cells out from your bone marrow and into your bloodstream. That way they can be easily filtered from your blood. Then a machine will remove blood from one arm, filter out the stem cells, and return it to the other arm. There are typically 2-4 sessions, each taking only 4-6 hours.

Think about it: give up a couple weekends of your life so that someone else can live!

There are some side effects to the medication, however, at the worst they add up to feeling like you have the flu while you’re on them.

I found these few facts from The Mayo Clinic and the National Bone Marrow Registry.


There is a donor drive in National City on October 13th, but you can also register from the comforts of your home!

-note: there is a one-time cost to registering for donation (~$50), yet they have sponsorship programs, or partial payment programs. Check it out!

sneaking in through the window

This week we delved heavily into theories that shape health campaigns. Strong health campaigns are rooted in research and theories of public health, but there is also the major aspect of how to market these campaigns so the public will actually listen, learn, and change their behaviors. it seems against the nature of working for a social good to manipulate people into embracing our messages, and, initially, manipulation makes me think of so many corporate ad campaigns that have led people to their current poor health habits... it makes me cringe a bit to think of going to that level to really be successful. Wouldn’t it be nice if people just intrinsically cared about being healthy? If it wasn't such a forced concept? Dreamland is a nice place to visit. I’ll just have to work on making the truth that appealing!

Communication was presented as a house, and manipulation as merely coming in through the window instead of the front door. We have to find ways to grab people's attention so we can promote our messages without being thought of as solicitors. This all makes me want to take marketing classes to learn to get the attention of the public, hold on to it, and get the message across... to use the media theories for the greater good of the people, not the corporations!

the future of public health

Ah, the first class on the first day of school since '04...

We jumped into the world of health communications straight away by discussing our initial perceptions of the field and then going through types and functions of h.c.

The influence of pop culture and the entertainment industry roared to the forefront as we watched a CDC video reviewing landmarks of the first 50 years of public health (1946-96). Health campaigns from my childhood rushed across the screen…

As we began to discuss what the next 50 years will entail, the discussion ran towards obesity, diabetes, and health issues associated with those problems… sitting there quietly, I couldn’t help but think: cancer.

Cancer rates seem to be on the rise amongst low-income and minority populations. In part due to poor environmental living conditions, and also due to lack of screening. Colon, gastrointestinal, breast and ovarian cancers are jumping up all over, and many patients are unaware of their family history of such cancers. Through genetic testing and family history collection, many centers are detecting cancer at earlier stages, preventing metastasis and saving patients.

That’s not even mentioning skin cancer, and the number of young adults who will be showing up with malignant spots due to their consistent use of tanning beds. This will greatly increase the number of cases each year, and bring the average age down by decades.

Then, there’s the quest for the cure to cancer… I think they’re actually getting there!

Needless to say, the next century will be crucial in developing/maintaining healthy living environments and enticing all populations to live healthy lifestyles.