4 Communication in health education .ppt

heath communication

1. 26/05/2024Health Education 1
Communication
skills
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Objectives
•At the end of this session the student will be
able to: -
Define communication
Describe elements of communications
Identifies principles of communications
Identifies formsof communication
Describe types and methods of communication

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•What is communication?
•Iscommunicationmeretalking?
•Whendoestalkingbecomecommunication?
•Communicationisirreversible?
•Allcommunicationsareintentional?
Communication… BrainStorming

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•Communication:-istheprocessofsharingour
ideas,thoughts,andfeelingswithotherpeopleand
havingthoseideas,thoughts,andfeelingsunderstood
bythepeoplewearecommunicatingwith.
•Healthcommunication:-istheartandtechniqueof
informing,influencingandmotivatingindividualsor
largeraudiencesaboutimportanthealthissues
basedonscientificandethicalconsiderations.
Definition

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Communicationisanessentialpartofdaily
activitiesinorderto:
Have dialogue with communities.
Raise awareness or knowledge and Attitudeamong
individuals or groups.
Communicate new laws and policies to the public
To mobilize community participation.
Influence decision makers.
Develop community action on health issues.
Why communication?

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Diseasepreventionandcontrolstrategies
Demonstrateor illustrates health related skills
Showthebenefitof behaviorchange
Demonstratea demandforhealthservices
Promotehealthdevelopmentandorganization
Refutemyths…
Why communication……..

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1.Sender/Source:the originator of each message
•Can be individual, groupsor organization
•People are exposed to communication from
different sources but Accept a communication from
a sender that they trust i.e a sender with high
source credibility
Componentsof communications

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2.Message:is a piece of information that contains a
combination of ideas, facts, opinions, feelings or
attitudes.
A message is said to be good if it is: -
•Require minimum time
•Is culturally acceptable
•Meets a felt need
•Is easy to understand
•Is realistic or
•Epidemiologically correct

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3.Channel: the physical means or the media by which
a message travels from sender to receiver.
–Choice of the channel depends on:
•Nature of the audience
•Availability of resources
•What you are trying to achieve
E.g.. Radio, TV, Posters, Magazines, Voice, Phone,
sms(text)
4.Receiver: the person for whom the communication is
intended.

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5.Effect and Feedback
•Effect: the change in the receiver’s knowledge,
attitude or practice.
•Feedback: telling what they have done well or how to
improve.
•Two-way feedback means that members of the
community can tell you what you communicated
well and what didn’t work so well.
•Feedback should be positivewhen the desired
change in knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP)
occurs —but will be negativewhen the desired
change in knowledge, attitude and practice doesn’t
occur.

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Types of communication
1.One-way communication: -flow of information from the
sender to the receiver, the communication is dominated by
the sender’s knowledge.
–does not consider feedback and interaction with the
sender
–Preferable when the message is simple and it is faster
–Message is controlled by receiver
•e.g lecture , mass media

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2.Two-way communication: -information flows from the
sender to the receiver and back from receiver to the sender
again in the other direction, it is reciprocal, the communicant
(receiver) becomes the communicator (sender) and the
communicator (sender) in turn becomes a communicant
(receiver).
–There is feed back
–Useful for complex message or more appropriate for
problem-solving situations.
–Message is controlled by the sender

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Forms of communication
1.Oral/Verbal communication
•It is communication by word of mouth and the
message is received through our ear.
•In oral communication, speech or talk is the
widely adopted tool of communication.
•No Record and may be hard to remember
•Eg. face-to-face meeting,telephone, radio etc.

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2.Written communication
•Itinvolvestheexchangeoffacts,ideas,andopinions
throughawritteninstrument/materials.
•Individualsorgroupscomeintouchwitheachother
andsharemeaningandunderstandingwitheachother
throughwrittenmaterialssuchasletters,leaflets,
reports,handouts,bulletins,newspaper.

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3.None verbal communication
•It is also called body language
•Itrefers to using a non spoken symbol to
communicate a specific message
•It is powerful in revealing the inner thoughts and
feeling
•“don’t watch a persons mouth but his fists”
Martin Luther the sixteenth century religious
reformer
•The most important thing in communication is to
hear what isn’tbeing said.”

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1.Body Language/body talk
i.Eye contact
ii.Facial expression
iii.Gesture (Head, arms and legs) e.g. nodding the head
[yes or no ]
iv.Posture/appearance
v.Touching
2.Vocal cues /Sounds accompanying spoken words
E.g; Pitch, tone, laughs, screams, sighs ‘’it is not what
we say but the way we say .”
Types ofNonverbalCommunication

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Facialexpression
Facialexpressionsreflectemotion,feelings

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Posture /appearance and
Walk
•Standing straight can indicate
confidence
•Crossed arms may indicate
domination, not ready for
feedback

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•The content of the message could be organized in
different ways so that it is more likely to persuade or
convince people, these are called appeals.
•Not everyone responds in the same way.
•Eight types of appeals in health communication
–fear-arousal, humor, logical/factual appeals,
emotional appeals, one-sided and two sided
messages, positive and negative appeals.
TypesofAppealsinHealthCommunication

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1.The fear-arousal appeal
•Thistypeofmessageisconveyedtofrightenand
arousepeopleintoactionbyemphasizingtheserious
outcomefromnottakingaction.
•Itmightbeeffectiveforapersonwithlittleorno
schooling,symbolssuchasdyingpersons,coffins,
gravestones,skulls,severity.
•Evidence suggests that mild fear can arouse interest,
create concern and lead to behaviour change.
However, creating too much fear is not appropriate.

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fear-arousal appeal……

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2.Humorappeal
•Themessageinthistypeofhealthcommunicationis
conveyedinafunnyway(entertaining)suchasinacartoon
•Humour is a very good way of attracting interest and
attention. It can also serve as a useful method to lighten the
the tension when dealing with serious subjects.

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3.The logical/factual appeal
•Themessageisconveyedtoconvincepeoplebygiving
facts,figuresandinformation.
•forexample,factsrelatedtoHIV/AIDS,itscauses,route
oftransmissionandpreventionmethodsforeducated
persons

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4.The emotional appeal
•Themessageistransmittedbyarousingemotionsand
feelingsratherthangivingfactsandfigures.
•A poster or leaflet might use this approach by showing
smiling babies or wealthy families with a latrine and
associating such images to create a positive healthy
impression.
•A less educated person will often be more convinced
by simple emotional appeals from people they trust.

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5. One-sided messages
•One-sided messages only present the advantages of
taking action and fail to mention any possible
disadvantages.
•for example,educating mothers only about the benefits
of the oral contraceptive pill.

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6. A two-sided message
•Presents both the advantages and disadvantages of
taking action.
•It is appropriate if:
•The audiences are used to being exposed to
different views
•The audiences are literate
•You areface-to-face with individuals or groups:

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7. Positive appeals
•Positive appeals include communications that ask people
to do something positive, such as exclusive
breastfeeding for your child, or using a latrine.
8. Negative appeals
•Arewherethecommunicationaskspeoplenottodo
something,
•Forexampledonotbottlefeedyourchild,ordonot
defecateintheopenfield.
•Negative appeals use terms such as ‘avoid’ or ‘don’t’ to
discourage people from performing harmful behaviours.

29. Methods of communication
1. Intra-personal communication
•Intrapersonal communication-is the messages
one sends to oneself, including self-talk, or
communication with oneself.
•A person receiving internal or external messages
organizes, interprets, and assigns meaning to the
messages.

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2. Inter-personal communication
•Inter-personal communication is the interaction
between two or more people or groups.
•You will be using this form of communication all the
time during your health work.
•This form of methods of communication can be
•face-to-face
•two-way
•verbal or non-verbal interaction, and
•includes the sharing of information and feelings
between individuals or groups.
•The communication takes place in both directions
from the source to the receiver and vice versa.

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3.Mass communications
•Mass communication is a means of transmitting
messages to a large segment of a population.
•Electronic and print media are commonly used for
this.
•The word ‘media’ is currently used to refer not
only to broadcast media such as radio, the internet
and televisionbut also to print media such as
papers, magazines, leaflets and wall posters.
•The powerful advantage of mass media over face-
to-face contact is the rapid spread of simple facts to
a large population at a low cost.

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Choosing Methods/Means of
communication
•Factors to consider when choosing a method of
communications
1.Cost: Is the method cheap or dear?
2.Speed: How long will it take to reach its destination?
3.Secrecy: Is the method confidential?
4.Record: Will a copy of the informationexist or
needed?
5.Destination:Is it internal or external? How far is it
going?

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•An effective health communicator:
1.Speaks in a loud and clear voice
2.Formulates the message clearly in a way that can be
easily understood
3.Explains technical terms
4.Encourages the receiver to speak openly
5.Gives full attention to the receiver
6.Listens carefully
7.Ensures that the message is understood
8.Puts himself or herself both in the situation of the
sender and the receiver
9.Makes sure that they have the full attention of the other
person
10.Answers any questions fully.

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Principles of communication
1.Shared perception: for communication to be effective the
perception of the sender should be as close as possible to
the perception of the receiver.
•The extent of understanding depends on the extent to
which the two minds come together.
2.Sensory involvement: the more senses involved in
communication, the more effective it will be.
•If I hear, I forget. If I see, I remember. If I do, I know.
3.Face-to-face communications: when communication
takes place face-to-face it is more effective.
4.Two-way communications (feedback):any communication
without a two-way process is less effective because of lack
lack of opportunity for concurrent, timely and appropriate
appropriate feedback.

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5.Clarity of the message: ideas, facts and opinions
should be clearto the sender before communication
happens.
–Communication should always use direct, simple and
easily understandable language.
6.Correct information: the sender should have at hand
correct, current and scientific information before
communicating it.
7.Completeness of the idea: subject matter must be
adequate and full. This enables the receiver to
understand the central theme or idea of a message.
–Incomplete messages may result in
misunderstandings.
Principles of communication …….

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Match these examples with the Principles of communication
A.Talking with someone and asking what they think, rather than
talking ‘at’ them
B.Using simple straightforward language, rather than very big
and hard words or being very ‘scientific’ and obscure
C.Having relevant facts and information gathered together in
one place before talking to someone
D.Having all the information that is going to be needed for an
encounter so that nothing is missing and everything is tied up
E.Talking directly to someone if at all possible when
communication is required
F.Making sure as much as possible that both sides in a
communication see things in the same way.
G.Combining a leaflet, an audio, a meeting, individual
counselling, a demonstration and role playing to get a
message across

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Thank You!
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