Week 13: Health Communication Evaluation

Our last lecture was today….this whole semester went very fast! This class was the most enjoyable class I’ve had this semester. What I take away from this class is that when implementing a program I need to learn as much as I can in order for it to successful. The evaluation game was bit hard to do, however as everyone went through the process I learned that as program coordinators we need to be clear for what we are asking for and if there no available resources for help we have to clearly state (to our bosses) what we can do with what we have and go on from there….Personal relevance coupled with hard data can also make our program evaluation successful and perhaps can help with program maintenance. By getting more grant money and convincing the stakeholders that a program is worth investing in, as the 1 to 4 return on investment we talked about in class (ROI).
Anyway, I like that fact that Dr. E mentioned that as public health professional we don’t HAVE to be poor! I mean I’m not ashamed to say that I like having money and I like earning it. Money does consume me, but it’s nice to have it.
The semester is winding down and I’ve learned a lot from this class. I have many tools to choose from, many techniques of health communication to “muddle” through and excited to try some stuff out at my work place. So I want to wish everyone good luck with careers, finals, and our presentation on Monday.
I found this website below through University of Toronto that outlines a lot of the information we talked about in class for Program Evaluation. Click on the PDF file....it has a lot of relevant content on Evaluation design.

http://www.thcu.ca/infoandresources/evaluation_resources.htm

Have a great semester break everyone!

Get a Life, Get Active, Go Walking!

Great clip to promote walking using media and entertainment.

NBC Today - Life With Diabetes

Great media coverage of diabetes prevention.

Week 12: Popular Culture and Entertainment

Class was fun and interesting this week and I have one more “health promotion/communication tool” I can put in my tool box! We can actually use “Popular Culture and Entertainment” to spread our health message. We learned in class that entertainment contract seems to open our minds; our mindset is different when we expect to be entertained. We are more relaxed and empathic to whatever message is coming our way. The videos we viewed in class really opened my eyes on how popular movies and TV shows can be use to spread our health message. I never would have thought to use the “Simpsons” as a health communication tool to educate people on overeating and perhaps obesity. The movie clip of Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton, I would have never thought of using it to teach medical providers on how “not to do CPR” and as a lead in clip on signs and symptoms of a heart attack. All of the clips we saw in class I could envisioned showing at the very beginning of a health promotion campaign to “grab” people’s attention to the message of the program. It’s a great tool; we can entertain and spread our health message at the same time. With popular culture and entertainment, we can have fun, laugh, cry, and promote health at the same time.Anyway, I hope everyone had a very happy and “full” Thanksgiving Day.

Week 11: Web 2.0, Games and Interactive Technology

Tools, tools, tools in spreading our health communication messages! I am learning so much to "think out of the box" in this class when it comes to tools I can use as a health promoter in my work place. I mean, I would have never thought that I could or can use all of this web based tools to my advantage when spreading my message. Yet, many well known agencies such as the CDC for example have already mastered this fast and ever changing communication tool. I agree that the Web or Web 2.0 is a great communication tool, it is easy, fast, and it brings people together and as a result we are better informed.
We talked about many advantages and disadvantages of Web 2.0 in class. However, the Internet or the Web is so fast when it comes to spreading information that at times it can get scary. There are so much information out there that it is important to be "choosy" about which source is credible. We talked about easy access to health information in class, "self diagnosis" and the danger of not consulting with our health care providers. I think one of the scariest services that the web offers is the ability to buy prescription medications and other types of drugs. Coming from a health care provider perspective, I just don’t think it’s safe. Check out this article at MSNBC.com, it’s about teens abusing prescription medications ordered in the Internet. Check this link out:
Teens turn to Internet for prescription drugs - Nightly News with Brian Williams - MSNBC.com

I think another danger with this fast and easy information in the Web is that it can start people to mobilize against a company and can ruin a company or a person's reputation in the process. Check out this link that was created as almost like a support group for dissatisfied customers and employees of Enterprise rent-a-car.
http://www.failingenterprise.com/forums/index.php

Anyway, good or bad the Web is here to stay. It's good to know that as a health promoter I can use this as a tool to use my message. Although I just learned how to blog so it might take me a few tries to be comfortable with this health communication tool.

Check out the AVIS video below, it's really funny!

new Avis / XM commercial

We were talking about car rental companies in class today and we named Avis as one of the leading car rental company. This commercial is sooo funny! Talking about framing their message to a segment of the population to the "yuppies" and younger customers! This video makes me laugh every time I see it!

Week 10: Advertising, Public Relations, & Media Advocacy

The class this week was interesting in a “weird” way. I guess I never really thought of public relations as part of health promotion, but I can see how this tool can be a powerful one in promoting health. The guest speaker actually used some techniques that I am using right for my Health Promotion Planning and Assessment class (PH666) with Dr. Koslow. She talked about developing goals that realistic, specific, measurable, tractable and time bound. Also, she mentioned community outreach, community involvement, and networking. Familiarizing ourselves with media….we need to be “media hounds”. As we have learned throughout this semester, if we use media as a tool to get our message out, we need to know the stories, know what interests them in order to successfully utilize this tool. As in “know thy self”, but instead “know thy tools”. However, I don’t know everyone else in class, but dealing with reporters or the media is a very unfamiliar territory for me and a little bit scary/intimidating. It’s a great tool to use as we have learned in class last week, but getting a few hours of lecture in class doesn’t really make me confident that I will able to navigate the world of PR and media. But as Dr. Engelberg stated in class PR and Media is just another tool we can use to spread the word of our health promotion campaigns.