1. Communication Practices
Aimed at Vulnerable
Populations
KINE 3350
DR. GREEN

2. What is Public Health Communication?
 Healthy People 2010 defines health communication as “the art and technique of informing,
influencing, and motivating individual, institutional and public audiences about important health
issues.”
 The Institute of Medicine defined public health as “what we, as a society, do collectively to assure
the conditions in which people can be healthy”
 So with the integration of these two perspectives the definition of public health communication
emerges as the scientific development, strategic dissemination, and critical evaluation of relevant,
accurate, accessible, and understandable health information communicated to and from intended
audiences to advance the health of the public.

3. The Disciplines of Public Health Communication
 Mass and Speech Communication
 Health Education
 Marketing
 Journalism
 Public Relations
 Psychology
 Informatics
 Epidemiology

4. Targeted Messages
 Message targeting- customizes messages to shared characteristics of population
subgroups, such as lifestyle factors
 Message tailoring- fits messages to individual characteristics such as personality
factors like coping styles or preferences for thinking extensively about choices
 Pros: Could improve the cultural competency related to messages, allows the
messages to be tailored to a specific audience, can promote social equity through
health education
 Cons: Requires moral judgement, certain groups are excluded from interventions,
presents competing demands to provide both complete and accurate information
(i.e. low-literacy populations)

5. Capturing Attention and Presenting Risk
Information
 Includes:
 Graphic Images
 “Shock” Factors
 Fear Appeals
 Shocking Statistics
 Pros: Can cause the audience to pay attention
 Cons: Does not always produce the health behavior changes intended, audience
might find the message offensive or too scary, can lead to exaggerations to get
the point across,

6. Messages on Responsibility and Culpability
 Includes the responsibility of the individual to adopt a lifestyle that society
considers healthy.
 Messages may imply that illness or disability will result from failure to adopt a
“responsible” lifestyle and this will lead to the individual becoming a burden to
their family and/or society.
 Pros: Might lead to behavior change
 Cons: Do not take into account that individuals may have limited impact on social
factors that affect their behavior, “blaming the victim,” characterizes those that do
not follow the recommended behavior as weak or at fault for certain medical
conditions, people might respond with a feeling of guilt

7. Messages to Reduce Harm
 The harm-reduction approach prioritizes the obligation to protect people from
greater harm while they may be engaging in other potentially harmful practices.
 It helps individuals to avoid certain practices even if it seems to condone other
unsafe practices.
 Pros: Raise strong emotional responses and sometimes prove to cause a behavior
change
 Cons: Certain groups may find the messages offensive and even immoral,
promotes other unsafe behaviors,

8. Health Literacy
 Health literacy is the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain,
process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make
appropriate health decisions. 1. Health literacy is dependent on individual and
systemic factors: Communication skills of lay persons and professionals.

9. Rewind the Future

10. Break the Habit

11. Public Health Campaign Review
 Who is the intended audience?
 Is it ethical?
 Does it send the correct message?
 Do you think all audiences would be able to understand it?
 Do you think it is effective?
 What are some of the issues that you see with the ad?
 What changes would you make?

28. Current Strategies to Serve Vulnerable
Populations
 There are major health programs and policies that are aimed at addressing health
and health care disparities
 These programs can include federal initiatives such as the
Affordable Care Act, State initiatives such as Medicaid, and Local initiatives such as
Community Health Centers or Free Clinics.
 Private initiatives are also used to address problems that are overlooked or are not
fully taken care of due to the financial strain and lack of resources by Federal,
State, and Local initiatives.

29. Measurement of Strengths and
Weaknesses of Programs
 Validity-Does it aim to reduce disparities?
 Is its scope and reach sufficient given the size of the problem?
 What is the current and future sustainability of the program?
 What is the program’s proposed effectiveness?

30. On the Road to a Healthier Jackson
 https://www.wkkf.org/what-we-do/featured-work/on-the-road-to-a-healthier-
jackson