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This is the course blog for PH 663 -- the theory-based, practical, action-packed Health Communication course for ace Health Promotion students in the Graduate School of Public Health at San Diego State University.
Week 1: Course intro & overview
-Health Communications
-Types of Communication
-Functions of Communication
Week 2: Labor Day-No Class
Week 3: How Theory Shapes Health Campaigns
-SMCRD
-Them/Us
-Who says/hears what
-Hierarchy of effects
-2 Paths
-"house"
Week 4: Formative Research Overview, Presentation Skills
-"Wrong reason" Health Promotion
-Uses & gratification
-Effects model
-Selectivity
-Formative research
-Active listening
-Focus groups
-Presenation skills
-Body language
Week 5: Understanding & Segmenting Your Audiences I
-Benefits and features
-Segmentation principles
-Types of Segmentation (Demographic, Geographic, Psychographic, Behavioral)
Week 6: Understanding & Segmenting Your Audiences II
-VALS segmentation
-PRIZM geographic
-Forward segmentation
-Backward segmentation
-Inductive
Week 7: Health Literacy
-Health literacy
-Functional literacy
-Levels of literacy (and %s)
-"Showing" vs. "telling"
-Plain language
-SMOG/FOG
Week 8: Message Strategies
-Benefits
-Barriers
-Model
-Types of messages (fear, testimonial, slice of life)
-Risk communication
-Gains vs. losses
-Reference points/anchors
Week 10: Advertising, Public Relations & Media Advocacy
Week 11: Web 2.0, Games, & Interactive Technology
-"media hound"
-Reporters NOT your friends
-Manipulation and ethics
-Find your voice
-Positioning
-"Top of mind"
-Web 2.0 (10 principles)
Week 13: Popular Culture and Entertainment
-Communication contract (presuasion/entertainment)
-Agenda setting
-Entertainment-Education Continuum
Week 14: Mini-Project 2 Presentations
LESSONS TO KEEP IN MIND FOR FINAL PROJECT
- The project should be a reflection of the objectives
- Remember that methods and strategies are distinct concepts
- It's ok to modify objectives and strategies... justify the change!
- Great job not reading from the slides!!!
23 comments:
I would like to start by saying WOW for Rocio's campaign on hypertension. She (and her group) did a really awesome job. I felt like her group had a good understanding of their target audience through lit reviews, surveys, and focus groups. She also brought up a really good point of piloting your campaign to get some feedback on whether or not your message is working. I also thought the posters were very easy to follow and very professional looking. (The bar has been set high).
I am also excited to have learned about the tools that are available online in order to segment people to better understand how to tailor your health message to them. Very cool stuff, and something I think is beneficial to have at hand even if you are not going into designing campaigns for a profession. In addition, I found it interesting that the US is part of a culture that is very into putting people into categories, as opposed to other cultures. I wonder why that is...?
Last but not least, I am starting to feel a little less computer illiterate. I now know: how to blog (and post pics to my blog), and about "RSS". Very cool stuff!
I would like to start off like Crystal and comment on Rocio's project. I took PH 666 (Health Promotion planning, implementing, etc) with her and its so great to see how in this project for PH 663 she incorporated materials from both classes...this is why I am so excited for this project, although it may require a lot of sleepless nights.
One thing about her project that I particularly appreciated was the fact that her group piloted some ads to their tgt population. This reminded me of my experience as an intern with the County of Orange - where I created flyers for the elderly and asked for their comments/suggestions while visiting various senior centers. Although the majority of time I spoke with them about things not directly related to the flyers, I really enjoyed the experience.
To address Crystal's comment about the US being so interested putting people into categories, I suppose perhaps its because we are such a diverse country who shares no one religion, ethnic culture, etc. - we are always trying to find the easiest way to define ourselves. Doesn't this remind you of those standardized tests growing up when one question would ask you to select the ONE race you more closely relate with? What about the bi-/multi-racial ppl? How can you make them choose just one? Being bi-racial, my parents told us to never answer that question. I know they've gotten better lately bc I've seen categories for multi-racial or the option to 'choose all that apply', or other.
ciao.
To add to Crystal’s and Juanita’s comments,
Rocio's presentation was a "Wow" factor for me. From the posters to her group piloting their campaign was very impressive. It's good to see what we are talking/learning about in class actually applied in a real world situation, but it's going to be hard work!
The segmentation tools that Dr. Engelberg showed us in class were interesting also...I didn't even know those tools existed. It’s good to know that the tools out there and all I need to do is to think about how I can use these tools for Health Promotion. It's interesting to see where in the segment of the population "I" belong. I supposed its human nature to want to "belong". It just makes a point that it's important to know our target audience/population before starting a heath campaign.
The VALS survey was interesting to me. It was very accurate in predicting what I value – family, career, stability, and respect authority etc….As we’ve talked before in class “know thy self”. Boy, this class is certainly making me do a lot of self reflection!
Yes, Juanita I do agree with you. Like you I also grew up in a bi-racial family and my parents also told me, like you, to leave those questions blank. I think sometimes categorizing people can lead to prejudices and stereotypes in some way or another. As health promoters, we need to be careful of our own values and beliefs, so that we don’t impose them on other people (target population). As we have learned in class values, beliefs, attitudes, cultures, and resources can be different for each individual person or each segment of a population.
Lastly, Spill 2 was a different experience for me. As a registered nurse working with patients all day long, I ask people questions about their health almost every minute of the day. But I did learn that if I say “tell me more about that…”, or “what you’re saying is….is that about right?” or “Describe how you’re feeling today” or “Describe your pain to me, is it sharp, dull, aching…”, I do tend to get more information on how my patients are really feeling and I tend to stay in their beside longer too! However, I do know that I have happier patients and I treat their needs better because I have more information about their symptoms and I’ve established a rapport.
Have a good week everyone!
Hello Class
Lets see where to start??? First off the I had no idea as well that the VALS and Prizm tools existed. online. I have done similiar "personality" test activites at work conferences to address compatible working relationships and how to work with different people, anywho this was really cool. Responding to what MAria posted, I have had a similiar experince working in Healthcare. I find it to be very beneficial to use active listening, body languange and open ended questions when working with patients. This is especailly true when discussing sensitive topics such as birth control and STD's ( I work for Planned Parenthood).. We had discussed in class today that MPH students are often looked to as "experts" on health topics. I have ahd this experience professionally as well when I am wearing the white lab coat the patients assume I am a doctor and therefore know everything!!! Its interesting yet flattering to be held in such a high regard. So for segmenting I like the idea of backwards segmentation, it just makes sence, now would that be considered deductive?? In regards to looking at what differences really matter in a population, I think it depends on the behavior. With some behaviors demographics will be more important and with other behaviors the psychosocial factors will take presidence. In regards to categorization, although I do not agree with it entirely, it can be useful when working with limited resources and time to speed up with precess of developing what may be a useful campaign.
Definatly the bar has been set high. The presentation was truely awesome and she (and her group) must have worked very hard. She should be proud that she has reached so many people.
About labels...I actually like labels although I find them frustrating. I come from a psychology backgroud and I have taken my share of VALS type surveys to put me in a box and help me "find a career" or "find my personality type". My problem is that I tend to fall down the middle of almost everything (even on VALS I recieved two answers).
To answer Crystal's question: I am a middle class caucasion American and I know for a fact that my culture is very individualistic and it really does not surprise me that so many people like me appreciate labels. They allow us to feel "unique" and we can proudly claim what we are or are not. Now I understand that this cannot be applied to ALL Americans, but to me this is a primary reason.
Well i tried the PRIZM zip code thing and just found out I pretty much live in a ghetto:-) So i'm still trying to figure out if that's a good thing or not...but apart from that the presentation was AWESOME...It's kind of scary to think about how we have to now keep up to those amazing standards.
I have been following this whole conversation about labeling people and I have to say that I love labels too - actually when I think about it it's not the labeling per se that I am interested in. What always fascinates me is how one gets those labels. Having a background in psychology like Megan I have also done my share of personality tests and what type of dog are you tests:-) BUT what always fascinates and pulls me towards these tests are the reasoning behind them. I always like to figure out how they match your personality to the answers you give and what question can predict what..and that fascinates me more than the actual label - since most of the time the labeling is pretty inaccurate.
As everyone else has already said, the guest presenter was extremely impressive. What an interesting topic, and what a fabulous campaign! I really like the fact that we are actually assigned to real projects that will make a difference in the community rather than creating mock situations and campaigns. What a great way to get involved in the health topics of our communities! I am looking forward to the PTA Meeting at Montgomery Middle School this Friday night (even though Friday night seems like an odd time to have such a meeting - I wonder how many parents actually attend...) in order to learn more about the school, kids, and their families. From what I can sense so far, they are very involved and vested in their well-being and are being pro-active in their health and safety.
Let's see, other stuff from class... Listening to others' spill-your-guts about health stories was interesting. I especially liked the one about the hair dresser who spent 5 hours talking and working on that person's hair (forgot who it was - sorry!). The point that Dr. Engelberg made about how people frequently don't really want advice but rather just want to talk and tell their stories was so true. We were trained to use active listening with our therapy clients more often than offering advice because 1) people can usually generate their own solutions if they talk through their thoughts aloud with someone else, and 2) they are more likely to implement changes if they came up with the idea and its benefits themselves than if someone else told them what to do. Sometimes (often) holding back from offering my own opinion is really challenging, but it's usually rewarding in the long run.
Finally, I re-set my settings to allow site feeds, but I am not really sure what else to do with it. I'm still a little new to all of this networking stuff...
I agree with all the previous comments about how well Rocio's project turned out. They did an excellent job and she obviously is continuing to improve the campaign to make it more appropriate to her target population. It's nice to see that work done for a class is actually affecting people.
I was unaware of the Prizm program prior to class on Monday. It was very interesting to have that data for all zipcodes. I'm not sure how accurate it is, but it was fun to look at nonetheless. I also think it's an important tool for numerous health campaigns, especially those in the early planning phases.
I too am guilty of being attracted to labels. I thought my label of Achiever/Innovator was pretty accurate. Although, I could see a little of myself in all of the different categories so, agaian, I don't know how accurate the VALS system is, but it's fun to play around with.
Lastly, I'm really exciting about working with Shakti Rising but I think it will be pretty challenging experience to meet our goal-- recruiting dedicated volunteers for one of their programs.
I love that cheerstohealth lives in the ghetto. I just moved from the ghetto so i can relate...
Rocio's project was so amazing but I feel like our project, whose contacts wont answer the phone or email, may not be as sweet. They need more information on their audience in order to make a great campaign. Also we dont have any kind of budget..
I talked about VALS in my last post, but I think I was a striver. I didnt want to share in class that I'm the only one in a holding pattern, but oh well. I am a striver and proud!!
Oh, and kudos to Dr. Engleberg for wearing pink, I loved it!
Ditto to everyone else, Rocio’s presentation was fabulous and gave me a better understanding of what we’re suppose to do with our projects and what the end product looks like.
The Prizm segmentation thing online was interesting too. Like everyone else I didn’t know it existed, but what a great tool!
In response to Crystals question, I think whether you like to be in a “category” or like to be “labeled” or not, in general we like to know about ourselves, where we fit in and what kind of person we are. I think it is always interesting to read what those evaluations have to say and see if you think that description fits you.
In terms of spill your guts… I totally agree with what Dr. Engelberg said about sometimes people ask for advice, but they don’t really want it, they just want to talk. As Sarah said, sometimes they will sort things out on their own by talking through it. I used to work at a car wash and we had regular customers that came in every single week to wash their car, most of the time, not because it was dirty, but because they wanted someone to talk to. They would tell you the craziest stories just to talk.
I also thought it was interesting when Dr. Engelberg mentioned that people expect us to know everything about Public Health because we are getting (or have) our master’s. Here’s an example: Just the other day I was on the phone with my mom. Since I am running a marathon this weekend my mom was talking to me about eating healthy and making sure I get my vitamins, etc. In the background I hear my step dad say to her, “Don’t be telling Lindsay how to eat, she’s the expert”. I laugh because while nutrition is important to me (I’m doing my thesis on it, geez), my whole life my mother has been my nutrition resource. I guess now I am supposed to be the “expert” because I mean, I am getting my master’s in public health. : )
I too was very impressed by Rocio's presentation.... too impressed! Now I'm really nervous! Yes, I know that their group had more time and involved more resources (since Rocio works there). But I do want our group to have a positive effect on our organization. My group is helping Shakti Rising, a very interesting and innovative project. Sometimes it's hard to get going on a large project like this. So I'm hoping that this nervousness will fade. We'll see!
Ok..so I can go either way with the labels or being put into categories. No one likes for some else to put negative labels on them. But not all labels are necessarily bad. Honestly, I fill out every Cosmo survey I can find. I mean, it's definitely important to know if I'm a "stressed out" or if my boyfriend and I are "compatible"(really, why waste my time is the survey tells me we're not). I just can't live in ignorance. :)
The Prizm was fun and I think it can help you get a broad sense of the population in certain areas. I live in North Park and I thought the segmentation of my area was pretty accurate. I do live in a very diverse area with a good sense of community and is highly active. I LOVE NORTH PARK!!
I have a REALLY funny commercial on my blog, so check it out! Watch the volume, it's a little loud.
I must confess, I went a little nuts with the PRIZM website! It's amazing what you can find to do when you don't want to work on your thesis! I have lived in 4 different areas of the world which have stereotypes attached: Nebraska, Utah, Moldova (Russia) and now California. I guess everywhere has it's stereotypes, but anyway... There were no zipcodes for my Draguseni, Moldova, but I still got a kick out of the differing results from western NE to eastern NE and northern UT versus southern UT. Although I would find this quite useful in learning about my target audience, I wouldn't put my entire energy in this method--similar to astrological signs and Cosmo surveys :), PRIZM only gets a certain part of the person. As with any stereotype, there is always exceptions to the rule--more often than not (but yes, I have shucked corn, had many a hay rack ride, say "howdy" and "tuckered" and LOVE the Cornhuskers...however, I didn't milk my first cow until I was in Moldova.)
The VALS survey reminded me of a certain personality test that my boss ADORES--can't for the life of me remember what it's called, but you end up with four letters such as ESFJ or something of the sort. I have taken it about six times now at staff meetings--a little annoying but not as bad as the MMPI--sheesh!
Group project--yeah, kind of stressing me out as we are having some slight difficulties in reaching our target audience. Also, it seems that the majority of kids already walk to Montgomery Middle School. Hmmmm....
On my blog (or in a couple hours) will be the links to follow fellow grad students Lindsay Amberg and Kristin McGinley as they run their first marathons in Portland and Chicago, respectively. You can track them at various kilometer marks throughout the course! Good luck guys!!! I am proud of you!!!
Like Shelby, I loved the PRIZM NE website! I spent a good amount of time entering various zip codes of cities in which I have lived (cities in Ca, Colorado, and North Carolina). When I entered 92109, the typical stereotypes of PB were shown in its segments. These segments included "City Startups" and "Up & Comers." The population was described as young, college graduates interested in athletic activities, nightlife entertainment, cafes, and blind date MTV. 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" 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!
Well...I guess we all agree about Rocio's campaign, huh? Hopefully, we'll all get through the rough spots we're in right now with our own campaings and things will start flowing a little easier.
Not much else to say here, gotta get back to work now. See you all on Monday.
This week in class we discussed segmentation tools that can be used to identify characteristics of your target audience. We used VALS and PRIZM specifically. The VALS survey (Values, Attitudes and Lifestyles) was more geared toward consumer habits and the PRIZM tool looks at neighborhood make-up by zip code. My VALS type is an Experiencer which actual described me pretty accurately. According to the description I am an avid consumer that spends money on fashion and entertainment, and I am an impulsive consumer (Sounds right huh - Mom and Dad?!). I really enjoyed taking this survey and thought it was an interesting tool for audience segmentation.
I invite the rest of you to try this out!
More on my blog!
Just like most of my class mates, i was really impressed with Rocio's presentation. They had done really good formative research and used really cool, eye catching concepts for posters.
I was intrigued with the various segmentation tools. The VALS and PRISM tools were good, but I am really looking forward to the health related segmentation tools. Dr Engelberg told me during the break, that he would be introducing the class to those awesome methods. As always, I would keep on wondering what's more important: segmentation (which tailors the intervention, and makes its successful) or generalizability of an intervention. But if we have both internally and externally valid health behavior related segmentation tools,then the process of segmentation and tailoring the intervention to those segments would be both successful and generalizable. I am sure, there would have been researchers who would have worked on it, or some would be still working on it. Like it would be so cool to have Eating behavior related segments, and if we have to design an intervention or campaign, we just look up the zip code, its tells us what percentage of what types exist in there, and then we make the intervention accordingly.
Also, in the class, I really liked the Backward segmentation, which I feel helps a lot to figure out what differences really matter.
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!
ocio's presentation was a really inspiring project. I commend her and her group for all the impressive work they accomplished to get their project funded. It's very incouraging to know that a project we work on in our classes can potentially be a project that an organization would be willing to fund. This makes me want our team project in promoting the mass vaccination clinic an even more successful project.
Also, the zip code prizm seems like a really great tool to use for our project. It will definately help break down the communities which we are going to focus on for promoting our health messages.
The VALS system seemed to be pretty accurate about describing my characteristics. I am an achiever, at least I try to be, and am definatly an Innovator. Kinda scarey when all you have to do is answer a few questions and a computer program can give you some insight about yourself. I guess machines as well as people can make generalizations about ones intellect, ambitions, experiences, etc,. etc., but the one sure way to really get to know someone is by taking the time to get to know them personally.
BTW, don't forget to read my blog about America's Next Top Model and how the show is trying to promote health amongst the contestants. Quite interesting I must say......
Yes, ladies and gentlemen. This face has ran our country for the last 6 years and still will be making national decisions for our country during the next 2.
It’s even more unbelievable that he did NOT have the heart to support the expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) (this would have provided health-care insurance to more than 6 million low socioeconomic children). Even after surpassing both the Senate and Congress, Bush still rejected the bill.
This heartless act leads to further questioning. Financial support would derive from an increase in tobacco tax (61 cents each packet). So, the fight seemed like a no-brainer: up with children, down with smokers. From a public health perspective, this may have been a dual solution. But instead we’re left with 2 more years of surprises and impoverished children without healthcare. arrrrrgh!
Comment from Laura S.
October 2, 2007 12:00 AM
Week 6: Real Men Wear Pink
First off, props to Dr. Engelberg for wearing pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month! I think that's awesome! I need to get Zach a pink shirt. He would wear it.
Next... I'd like to talk about what was discussed in class today...
VALS:
Primary:
Innovators (formerly Actualizers)
Secondary:
Achievers
I have to say... I don't have high esteem. I'm very blah about everything. I think I am more of a Achiever type. I'm an OVER-achiever. I need to get everything done or else I will go crazy.
Then we did this zip code prizm... here is my area in LA MESA:
Laura's Blog ... MORE ON MY BLOG...
ALSO, I have "HOW TO POST A LINK" on my blog.
Comment from Laura S.
October 2, 2007 12:05 AM
As for the catergorization... I don't like being catergorized... then you are stigmatized and set in this idea of what people think of you. Like a stereotype. I prefer to not be "labelled" because then itd be hard to get out of it.
If you're known as a klutz in high school or in the family, you're always labelled. That is the sad thing about labelling.
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