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. Are we having fun or what!
Monday, January 21, 2008
Week 1 - Course Intro & Overview
KEY CONCEPTS -Defining Health Communication -Types of Communication -Functions of Communication
20 comments:
Anonymous
said...
I guess I will be the lucky first to start the comments off. This week class is was interesting to hear and see all of our different definitions of health communication. More so, how in some ways they were all related to each other. Promoting, exchanging info, conveying, educatiing, etc. knowledge and messages on good health, improving health, and how to be healthy to individuals and various populations. I guess that goes to show how our professors and/or experience here have communcated to us differently what health is and how that relates to communication. I am definelty interested to see how we apply what we have learned to our class projects. See you all next week. noni
I thought that it was interesting as well how everything was interconnected and viewing situations both from a public health stance and as a general consumer... to be more critical but understand what sells. I enjoyed in the reading when it talks about the effectiveness and effects and how they can be seen. I also liked the disection of how to design a health campaign. I was nervous about creating a blog (and Im still unsure). Good luck to all... back to creating my blog.
I agree with Katie, in that it IS important to look at health communication from the standpoint of both the consumer and as a public health student. We've been inundated with messages, whether they be health related or not, since we were old enough to understand television and radio; hopefully this class will help us separate the good from the "not so good." With that knowledge we can become better public health students and purveyors of health information in our futures.
I am very excited about the blogging excercise in this class along with the group project. I think both will be very hands on and applicable to real life situations which we are all going to have to face once we leave school. I thought the exercise of defining health communication was very intersting and I am intersted to see how our definitions change by the end of this semester. I haven't started the coding your communication activity but I was just discussing it with someone and within the few minutes of talking about, it was amazing how many health messages I was receiving. I am very excited to be able to learn about a subject that is so practical and useful.
As others have already said, I also thought that this week's class was a interesting introduction to the subject of health communication. It seems as though this is a fairly complex subject, involving many factors that need to be considered when designing a health campaign. As a consumer of health communication, I haven't really given much thought to all the steps that are necessary when creating a health campaign, such as identifying a target audience, target behaviors, types of messages, etc. It is much easier to just sit back and let yourself be bombarded by all the health messages out there. However I think this semester will be interesting as we learn more about the complexities of health communication. I'm looking forward to learning how to become, not just a critical consumer, but also a producer of effective health messages
It was interesting to discuss the different definitions, types and functions of communication in class. It was more interesting to see how all of this was put together in the CDC video we watched. In the video, there were definitely showing us both functions of communication with some of the news and telling us what to do (mobilization) as well as entertainment through advertisements and by including celebrities to convey a message. Our lives are constantly affected by different types of communications such as the news, media, and advertisement. This is why I'm glad to be in this class to learn more about communication and its applications to public health.
I am really excited about this course because it tackles an aspect of public health that everyone can relate to. The definitions exercise stumped me for a bit and I loved it for that reason. So often we go about using terms that seem simple enough to understand but when it comes to defining them the words become so much more complex. The video tied in so well with diseminating what communication is and all the forms it can take. Watching some of the campaigns reminded me of my youth, and made me reflect on the bigger question-did they actually influence my health behavior in the long run? Or did they just confuse me- a la the fried egg representing a brain on drugs. -see you all next week.
I am with everyone regarding their enthusiasm about the course. I think that, at this point, we have taken a number of courses in the MPH that have taught us WHAT messages need to be conveyed and WHAT the PH problems are..but we haven't learned HOW to make the necessary changes. Finally--we are getting some tools! While at first I resisted the blog, I am now loving it (i.e., checking it compulsively) because it's driving home the message that creating a community--getting people to talk about the health issue--is what creates change. I already have my best friend and brother, who both live in different parts of the country, playfully sparring in my comments section! I think we three will all come out a bit more informed as a result...
I feel we are off to a good start thus far in class, with our first discussion of what Health Communication means. Although I previously felt that I had a good idea of what health communication is, the classroom discussion helped me broaden my undersatanding of what health communication entails in a much more detailed manner. I learned it is a combination of cutural, enviornmental, and psychological factors that helps define health communication. I specifically liked Dr. Engelberg's statement about "knowing thyself", which emphasized the importance of recognizing that we are all individuals with personal biases that may either intentionally or unintentionally influence our decisions. I also liked the metaphore-communication as a river of information-dynamic and in constant flow-with something always in the middle-and that something can change from time to time-(in health communication, this something can be the disease of concern during a specific time period such as cancer, AIDS, etc.). Overall, I am looking forward to broadning my knowledge of effective ways information can be disseminated, and learning to use the new tools out there to help us do just that.
I agree with many of the points made in the previous comments. I also found it interesting, especially as someone who hasn’t taken many other health or communication classes, the difference between channels of communication versus the functions and types of communication. By going through our own definitions of what is communication I realized how broad and complex the topic actually is. I also, thought the video was really interesting, especially trying to view it as a consumer and a Public Health student. In starting the assignment I realize how pervasive, yet subtle, health communication actually is in everyday life.
With the new year here and January almost out, many resolutions are in process. But, it seems like this year, advertising is giving it their all to make sure these resolutions last. Especially, the resolutions that include getting in shape, losing weight, and feeling great. I don't know if it's just me (because I'd like to lose a few pounds), but I'm noticing all of the advertisements in the market for physical activity and eating healthy these days. For example, commercials are filled with ads from gyms like Bally's and 24 Hour Fitness. They advertise membership at reduced costs for a limited time only, so act now. Yesterday, I received a coupon in the mail inviting me to the gym for 1 month on them or I could bring a guest if I am already a member of the club. This past weekend, I was driving and a Macy's commercial advertised a 3-day sale. I turned the radio up a little to catch the details and their sale that weekend was on work out clothes. I never thought of Macy's as the place to get my work out gear. But, hey, they probably didn't either, but now they're obviously on to something. And, I can’t forget Subway. The infamous Jared is still making the big bucks this year off of his endorsements. This month, Subway is advertising the black forest ham sandwich with apples and water. If you get the 6 inch sandwich, it's low in grams of fat, and only $2.99. It seems like this year, no stone is being left unturned by the advertising agencies. But, all of these ads reinforce the idea of how we are surrounded by health communication day in and day out. It seems like the cultural transmission this year includes the never ending battle to lose weight and getting or staying physically active. While the CDC's 50 years video did touch on many health topics, they didn't touch much on exercise or weight loss. But, as someone blogged earlier, obesity will be one of the challenges society will face over the next 50 years. As public health students, one of goals should be to communicate the issues to the masses on any platform available and mobilize the community towards a better tomorrow – okay maybe I’ve on political debate overload. But, advertising agencies are doing a great job selling a product and entertaining us for the most part. The fitness industry appreciates it as their profits have increased ten fold thanks to the news and advertisements. (I'll provide a dollar figure on that.) Nevertheless, health communication is a way people can access messages and gain knowledge that can empower them to make informed decisions about their health, wellbeing, mind, body, and lifestyle. As Bandura theorizes, environment and personal factors affect change and I think the power of health communication empowers people with some degree of self-efficacy just through knowledge and examples alone. "Like hey, if they can do it, I know what I need to get it done now, and I can do it to" type of attitude. So, whether it was in class with the CDC video, on TV, or on the radio, it's evident that health communication is that flowing river, constantly changing, and reaching new people in new ways everyday. I mean just think about how we can apply health communication to the web…but that's a whole other blog. :) Stay tuned and I'll see you next week.
Ditto the excitement regarding the class in general. We will learn the delivery system for the health messages we want to get out. I have already learned that my perspective will be different before and after I read all of your comments. Thinking I might write to my own blog prior to reading this and comparing.
I never really thought about communication and how much we really do communicate in our every day lives. I enjoyed the clip we watched in class and can not help but to think of how far we have come in the public health field. All you have to do is turn on the TV or radio and we hear about condoms, herpes meds, breast health, male reproductive health although usually in the form of viagra, teen pregancy, now anti smoking commercials, the "live above the influence" and TRUTH campaigns. I can not help but to be proud of how far we have come but we still need to go a long ways. However, both as a consumer and public health professional you have to look with a critical eye and really focus on the message you want to get across. Take for example, the Carls Jr ad with a half naked Paris Hilton washing a car with soap and water running all down her body, what was the point Carl's was trying to get across? We have really great food here or sex sells?? I think we all know the answer to that question and the reason the ad was pulled. So we have to remember what is the message we really want to get across to the consumers and how can we get to them in the most effective and productive way? A task easier said than done.
I found the discussion from our first class really useful when I completed my "Code your own communication" assignment. It was interesting how EVERYTHING seemed to be communication to me (from stop signs to turn signals by cars to store signs to billboards) and how it was harder to define what communication was NOT. I have already started to notice the importance of different mediums in communication, especially health communication. Being that within our very first class, there was an emphasis on the importance of blogging and other internet applications as health communication resources, I was not so surprised that I did not see many unsolicited health related communications on a day when I never accessed the internet and watched no tv...
I agree with everyone about the excitement of starting such an interesting class in health communications. I'm looking forward to learning about practical applications of all the public health information we have learned so far in the program. After starting the Coding Communication assignment, I'm realizing that health communication messages are really everywhere! Just as I was starting this blog, a message popped up in my inbox from SDSU. The email was letting me know that I could get a free month at the ARC if I start a membership at the gym soon. (A little FYI if anyone is interested- all you have to do is sign up for a week free pass and they offer the deal.) Anyways, now that I am becoming increasingly aware of health messages, I am realizing the variety of messages out there and how effective they can be. It seems that one of the most important aspects of successful communication is to understand the needs of the target audience and how to match the message to best reach them... and hopefully influence their health decisions. Probably much easier said than done, but I'm sure we will learn how to do that this semester!
Like everyone else, Im looking forward to this class and learning more about about different types of communication media through hands on experience. Dalila, I agree that "code your own communication" assignment is very interesting, I was never really conscious about how much communication instances happen on daily basis. I was surprised at the amount of messages that discuss treatment for all sorts of health maladies(sleeping, snoring, headaches, pms, arthritis acid reflex etc) and the lack of messages that discussed prevention and actually conveyed health communication messages. It was a good experience to view these messages and encounter my own shortcomings when I could not classify a particular instance according to my own definition.
Hi! This class sure has a lot of readings... JK! So far, so good. I haven't dropped out of the class yet... Communication is a very important aspect of life in general. Without it, we would just be banging each other heads with clubs to get the message across, you know the caveman days...hehe. However, health communication is absolutely essential to out well being. We need to evoke change within individuals. Why? Because I said so! No, really, because we all need to be healthy to live long meaningful lives, but to do this we need to be informed. Over and out!
This seems to be such an interesting course, which will help everyone become better communicators and promoters of good health. Communication can be such a funny thing to consider when we realize that we are always communicating some type of message while around other people—silence can say so much sometimes. Our clothes give out messages—not just those silly messages we see on those t-shirts at the mall.
20 comments:
I guess I will be the lucky first to start the comments off. This week class is was interesting to hear and see all of our different definitions of health communication. More so, how in some ways they were all related to each other. Promoting, exchanging info, conveying, educatiing, etc. knowledge and messages on good health, improving health, and how to be healthy to individuals and various populations. I guess that goes to show how our professors and/or experience here have communcated to us differently what health is and how that relates to communication. I am definelty interested to see how we apply what we have learned to our class projects. See you all next week.
noni
I thought that it was interesting as well how everything was interconnected and viewing situations both from a public health stance and as a general consumer... to be more critical but understand what sells. I enjoyed in the reading when it talks about the effectiveness and effects and how they can be seen. I also liked the disection of how to design a health campaign. I was nervous about creating a blog (and Im still unsure). Good luck to all... back to creating my blog.
I agree with Katie, in that it IS important to look at health communication from the standpoint of both the consumer and as a public health student. We've been inundated with messages, whether they be health related or not, since we were old enough to understand television and radio; hopefully this class will help us separate the good from the "not so good." With that knowledge we can become better public health students and purveyors of health information in our futures.
I am very excited about the blogging excercise in this class along with the group project. I think both will be very hands on and applicable to real life situations which we are all going to have to face once we leave school. I thought the exercise of defining health communication was very intersting and I am intersted to see how our definitions change by the end of this semester. I haven't started the coding your communication activity but I was just discussing it with someone and within the few minutes of talking about, it was amazing how many health messages I was receiving. I am very excited to be able to learn about a subject that is so practical and useful.
As others have already said, I also thought that this week's class was a interesting introduction to the subject of health communication. It seems as though this is a fairly complex subject, involving many factors that need to be considered when designing a health campaign. As a consumer of health communication, I haven't really given much thought to all the steps that are necessary when creating a health campaign, such as identifying a target audience, target behaviors, types of messages, etc. It is much easier to just sit back and let yourself be bombarded by all the health messages out there. However I think this semester will be interesting as we learn more about the complexities of health communication. I'm looking forward to learning how to become, not just a critical consumer, but also a producer of effective health messages
It was interesting to discuss the different definitions, types and functions of communication in class. It was more interesting to see how all of this was put together in the CDC video we watched. In the video, there were definitely showing us both functions of communication with some of the news and telling us what to do (mobilization) as well as entertainment through advertisements and by including celebrities to convey a message. Our lives are constantly affected by different types of communications such as the news, media, and advertisement. This is why I'm glad to be in this class to learn more about communication and its applications to public health.
I am really excited about this course because it tackles an aspect of public health that everyone can relate to. The definitions exercise stumped me for a bit and I loved it for that reason. So often we go about using terms that seem simple enough to understand but when it comes to defining them the words become so much more complex. The video tied in so well with diseminating what communication is and all the forms it can take. Watching some of the campaigns reminded me of my youth, and made me reflect on the bigger question-did they actually influence my health behavior in the long run? Or did they just confuse me- a la the fried egg representing a brain on drugs.
-see you all next week.
I am with everyone regarding their enthusiasm about the course. I think that, at this point, we have taken a number of courses in the MPH that have taught us WHAT messages need to be conveyed and WHAT the PH problems are..but we haven't learned HOW to make the necessary changes. Finally--we are getting some tools! While at first I resisted the blog, I am now loving it (i.e., checking it compulsively) because it's driving home the message that creating a community--getting people to talk about the health issue--is what creates change. I already have my best friend and brother, who both live in different parts of the country, playfully sparring in my comments section! I think we three will all come out a bit more informed as a result...
I feel we are off to a good start thus far in class, with our first discussion of what Health Communication means. Although I previously felt that I had a good idea of what health communication is, the classroom discussion helped me broaden my undersatanding of what health communication entails in a much more detailed manner. I learned it is a combination of cutural, enviornmental, and psychological factors that helps define health communication. I specifically liked Dr. Engelberg's statement about "knowing thyself", which emphasized the importance of recognizing that we are all individuals with personal biases that may either intentionally or unintentionally influence our decisions. I also liked the metaphore-communication as a river of information-dynamic and in constant flow-with something always in the middle-and that something can change from time to time-(in health communication, this something can be the disease of concern during a specific time period such as cancer, AIDS, etc.). Overall, I am looking forward to broadning my knowledge of effective ways information can be disseminated, and learning to use the new tools out there to help us do just that.
I agree with many of the points made in the previous comments. I also found it interesting, especially as someone who hasn’t taken many other health or communication classes, the difference between channels of communication versus the functions and types of communication. By going through our own definitions of what is communication I realized how broad and complex the topic actually is. I also, thought the video was really interesting, especially trying to view it as a consumer and a Public Health student. In starting the assignment I realize how pervasive, yet subtle, health communication actually is in everyday life.
With the new year here and January almost out, many resolutions are in process. But, it seems like this year, advertising is giving it their all to make sure these resolutions last. Especially, the resolutions that include getting in shape, losing weight, and feeling great. I don't know if it's just me (because I'd like to lose a few pounds), but I'm noticing all of the advertisements in the market for physical activity and eating healthy these days.
For example, commercials are filled with ads from gyms like Bally's and 24 Hour Fitness. They advertise membership at reduced costs for a limited time only, so act now. Yesterday, I received a coupon in the mail inviting me to the gym for 1 month on them or I could bring a guest if I am already a member of the club. This past weekend, I was driving and a Macy's commercial advertised a 3-day sale. I turned the radio up a little to catch the details and their sale that weekend was on work out clothes. I never thought of Macy's as the place to get my work out gear. But, hey, they probably didn't either, but now they're obviously on to something. And, I can’t forget Subway. The infamous Jared is still making the big bucks this year off of his endorsements. This month, Subway is advertising the black forest ham sandwich with apples and water. If you get the 6 inch sandwich, it's low in grams of fat, and only $2.99. It seems like this year, no stone is being left unturned by the advertising agencies. But, all of these ads reinforce the idea of how we are surrounded by health communication day in and day out.
It seems like the cultural transmission this year includes the never ending battle to lose weight and getting or staying physically active. While the CDC's 50 years video did touch on many health topics, they didn't touch much on exercise or weight loss. But, as someone blogged earlier, obesity will be one of the challenges society will face over the next 50 years. As public health students, one of goals should be to communicate the issues to the masses on any platform available and mobilize the community towards a better tomorrow – okay maybe I’ve on political debate overload. But, advertising agencies are doing a great job selling a product and entertaining us for the most part. The fitness industry appreciates it as their profits have increased ten fold thanks to the news and advertisements. (I'll provide a dollar figure on that.) Nevertheless, health communication is a way people can access messages and gain knowledge that can empower them to make informed decisions about their health, wellbeing, mind, body, and lifestyle.
As Bandura theorizes, environment and personal factors affect change and I think the power of health communication empowers people with some degree of self-efficacy just through knowledge and examples alone. "Like hey, if they can do it, I know what I need to get it done now, and I can do it to" type of attitude. So, whether it was in class with the CDC video, on TV, or on the radio, it's evident that health communication is that flowing river, constantly changing, and reaching new people in new ways everyday. I mean just think about how we can apply health communication to the web…but that's a whole other blog. :) Stay tuned and I'll see you next week.
Ditto the excitement regarding the class in general. We will learn the delivery system for the health messages we want to get out. I have already learned that my perspective will be different before and after I read all of your comments. Thinking I might write to my own blog prior to reading this and comparing.
I never really thought about communication and how much we really do communicate in our every day lives.
I enjoyed the clip we watched in class and can not help but to think of how far we have come in the public health field. All you have to do is turn on the TV or radio and we hear about condoms, herpes meds, breast health, male reproductive health although usually in the form of viagra, teen pregancy, now anti smoking commercials, the "live above the influence" and TRUTH campaigns. I can not help but to be proud of how far we have come but we still need to go a long ways. However, both as a consumer and public health professional you have to look with a critical eye and really focus on the message you want to get across. Take for example, the Carls Jr ad with a half naked Paris Hilton washing a car with soap and water running all down her body, what was the point Carl's was trying to get across? We have really great food here or sex sells?? I think we all know the answer to that question and the reason the ad was pulled. So we have to remember what is the message we really want to get across to the consumers and how can we get to them in the most effective and productive way? A task easier said than done.
I found the discussion from our first class really useful when I completed my "Code your own communication" assignment. It was interesting how EVERYTHING seemed to be communication to me (from stop signs to turn signals by cars to store signs to billboards) and how it was harder to define what communication was NOT. I have already started to notice the importance of different mediums in communication, especially health communication. Being that within our very first class, there was an emphasis on the importance of blogging and other internet applications as health communication resources, I was not so surprised that I did not see many unsolicited health related communications on a day when I never accessed the internet and watched no tv...
I agree with everyone about the excitement of starting such an interesting class in health communications. I'm looking forward to learning about practical applications of all the public health information we have learned so far in the program. After starting the Coding Communication assignment, I'm realizing that health communication messages are really everywhere! Just as I was starting this blog, a message popped up in my inbox from SDSU. The email was letting me know that I could get a free month at the ARC if I start a membership at the gym soon. (A little FYI if anyone is interested- all you have to do is sign up for a week free pass and they offer the deal.) Anyways, now that I am becoming increasingly aware of health messages, I am realizing the variety of messages out there and how effective they can be. It seems that one of the most important aspects of successful communication is to understand the needs of the target audience and how to match the message to best reach them... and hopefully influence their health decisions. Probably much easier said than done, but I'm sure we will learn how to do that this semester!
Like everyone else, Im looking forward to this class and learning more about about different types of communication media through hands on experience. Dalila, I agree that "code your own communication" assignment is very interesting, I was never really conscious about how much communication instances happen on daily basis. I was surprised at the amount of messages that discuss treatment for all sorts of health maladies(sleeping, snoring, headaches, pms, arthritis acid reflex etc) and the lack of messages that discussed prevention and actually conveyed health communication messages. It was a good experience to view these messages and encounter my own shortcomings when I could not classify a particular instance according to my own definition.
Hi! This class sure has a lot of readings... JK! So far, so good. I haven't dropped out of the class yet... Communication is a very important aspect of life in general. Without it, we would just be banging each other heads with clubs to get the message across, you know the caveman days...hehe. However, health communication is absolutely essential to out well being. We need to evoke change within individuals. Why? Because I said so! No, really, because we all need to be healthy to live long meaningful lives, but to do this we need to be informed. Over and out!
This seems to be such an interesting course, which will help everyone become better communicators and promoters of good health. Communication can be such a funny thing to consider when we realize that we are always communicating some type of message while around other people—silence can say so much sometimes. Our clothes give out messages—not just those silly messages we see on those t-shirts at the mall.
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