Communication :
 regarded as two way process of exchanging or
shaping ideas, feelings and information.
 Ultimate goal of all communication is to bring about
a change in the desired direction of the person who
receives the communication – cognitive (increase in
knowledge), affective(change in existing pattern of
behavior & attitude) & psychomotor (acquire new skill)
Communication Process :
Complex process having five components :
 Sender (source)
 Receiver (audience)
 Message (content)
 Channel (medium)
 Feedback (effect)
Sender :
 originator of the message
 must know  his objectives, should be clearly defined.
 his audience: its interests & needs
 his message
 channels of communication
 his professional abilities and limitation
Receiver: single person or group
Two types Controlled audience : one which is held together
by common interest, homogeneous
 Uncontrolled audience : one which has gathered
together from motives of curiosity.
- the more homogenous the audience is, the
greater are the chances of an effective
communication
Message:
 is the information which the communicator
transmits to his audience to receive, understand,
accept and act upon.
 transmitting right message to the right people at
right time is very crucial factor in successful
communication.
Channels of Communication :
 Interpersonal
 Mass Media
 Folk Media
Feed back:
 Reaction from the audience
 May reject if message is not clear or not acceptable
 Hence opportunity to sender to modify message and
render it acceptable.
 Inter-personnel communication- immediate
 Mass communication- takes time
 Feedback is obtained through opinion polls, survey
and interviews
Types of Communications:
 One way communication
 Two way communication
 Verbal communication
 Non – verbal communication
 Formal and Informal communication
 Visual communication
 Tele communication and internet
One way communication: (Didactic Method)
 E.g. – lecture method in class rooms
 Draw backs
- knowledge is imposed
- learning is authoritative
- little audience participation
- no feedback
- does not influence human behavior
Two way communication (Socratic Method):
 Audience may raise questions
 Add their own information, ideas and opinions to the
subject
 Learning is active and democratic
 More likely to influence behavior than one – way
communication
Verbal communication:
 Word of mouth, traditional way
 It is persuasive
Non – verbal communication
 Communication without words
 Bodily movements, postures, gestures, facial expressions
 Silence is a non – verbal communication
 It can speak louder than words
Formal communication:
 Follows lines of authority
Informal communication:
 E.g.: gossip circles
 May be more active, if formal channels do not cater to the
information needs
Visual communication:
 Charts
 Graphs
 pictograms
 Tables
 maps
 Posters
Telecommunication and internet:
 Communication over distance
 Radio, TV, internet, telephone, telegraph etc
 Point to point telecommunications systems (telephone,
telegraph) are closer to interpersonal communications
Health Communication :
Health Communication has to cater the
following needs,
 Information
Education
 Motivation
 Persuasion
 Counselling
 Raising morale
 Health development
 Organization
Health Education :
 A process aimed at encouraging people to want to
be healthy , to know how to stay healthy , to do
what they can individually and collectively to
maintain health, and to seek help when needed.
Aims & objectives of health education:
 To encourage people to adopt & sustain health
promoting lifestyles and practices
 To promote the proper use of health services provided
to them
 To arouse interest, provide new knowledge, improve
skills & change attitudes in making rational decisions
to solve their own problem
 To stimulate individual & community self reliance &
participation to achieve health development
Approach to Health Education :
 Regulatory approach (Managed prevention)
 Service approach
 Health education approach
 Primary health care approach
Models of Health Education :
 Medical Model
 Motivational Model
 Social Intervention Model
Medical Model:
 Dissemination of health information based on scientific
facts
 In this model social, cultural and psychological factors
were thought to be little or no importance
 Did not bridge the gap between knowledge and behavior
Motivational Model:
 Awareness
 Motivation –Interest
-Evaluation
- Decision making
 Action
- Adoption or acceptance
 Interpersonal communication (friends, groups, technical
persons) is vital to lend support to his decision making
Internalization:
 New ideas or acquired behavior which becomes part of a
persons own existing values
Social Intervention Model:
 In some situations it is not the individual who needs to be
changed but the social environment which shapes the
behavior of the individual & community.
 An effective health education model is based on precise
knowledge of human ecology & understanding of the social
interaction between the cultural, biological, physical &
social environmental factors.
Contents of Health Education:
 Human Biology
 Nutrition
personal
domestic
 Hygiene
 Family Health
Environmental
 Disease prevention and control
 Mental health
 Prevention of accidents
 Use of health services
community
Practice of Health Education:
 Audio Visual Aids :
 Auditory aids
 Visual aids – Not requiring projection and
requiring projection
 Combined A V aids
Methods in Health Communication :
1.Individual approach
3. Mass approach
 Individual Approach –
 Personal contact
 Home visits
 Personal letters
 Group Approach Lectures
 Demonstration
Discussion methods
2.Group approach
 Discussion methods
o Group discussion
o Panel discussion
o Symposium
o Workshop
o Conference
o Seminar
o Role Play
 Mass Approach
 Television
 Radio
 Newspaper
 Printed material
 Direct mailing
 Posters
 Health museums and exhibition
 Folk methods
 Internet
Lectures (Chalk & Talk):
 Group should not be more than 30
 Talk should not exceed 15 – 20 mins
 Can be made more effective by combining with audio-
visual aids such as ;
- flip charts, flannel graph, Exhibits, Films & charts
Disadvantages of lecture:
 Minimum student involvement,
 Passive learning,
 Comprehension varies with student
 Health behavior of listener is not necessarily affected
 Do not stimulate thinking or problem solving capacity
Demonstration:
 Carefully prepared presentation to show how to perform a
skill or procedure
 Clinical teaching in hospitals
 This method has a high motivational value
 Can be used in programmes like environmental sanitation
(construction of sanitary latrine), mother & child(ORS) etc
Group discussion:
Aggregation of people interacting in a face to face
situation
For effective group discussion:
-should comprise not < 6 & not > 12 members
-seated in a circle, each is fully visible to others
-group leader; initiate the subject, helps
discussion in proper manner, prevents side
conversations, encourages everyone to
participate, sums up the discussion in the end
- desirable to have a person to record
Group discussion contd…
 Considered very effective in health communication
 The group may arrive at decisions which no individual
would have been able to make alone
 Decision taken by the group tends to adopted by each
individual rather than a solitary one
 Where long compliance is involved (e.g. cessation of
smoking, obesity reduction) group discussion is
considered valuable
Limitations of group discussion:
 Those shy may not take part in discussions
 Some may dominate the discussion
 Some may deviate from the subject and make the
discussion irrelevant or unprofitable
Panel discussion:
 4- 8 persons, qualified to talk about the topic, sit & discuss a
given problem
 In front of a large group or audience
 Panel comprises of a chairman & 4 – 8 speakers
 No specific agenda, no order of speaking & no set of speech
 Success of the panel depends upon the chairman
 After the main aspects of the subjects are explored by panel
speakers, the audience is invited to take part
Symposium:
 Series of speeches on a selected subject
 Each expert presents an aspect of the subject briefly
 No discussion among the symposium members
 Audience may raise questions in the end
 Chairman makes a comprehensive summary at the end
of the entire session
Workshop:
 Consists of a series of meetings, usually 4 or more
 Emphasis on individual work, within the group, with the
help of consultants or resource personnel
 Provides each participant opportunities to improve his
effectiveness as a professional worker
Role playing (socio - drama) :
 Many values in a situation cannot be expressed in words
 Communication can be more effective if the situation is
dramatised by the group
 Size of the group is best thought to be at about 25
 Role playing is useful technique to use in providing discussion of
problems of human relationship
 Particularly useful educational advice for school children
 Role playing is followed by discussion of the problem
Conferences & Seminars:
 Contains a large component of commercialized continuing
education
 Usually held on a regional, state or national level
 Range from once half day to one week in length
 May cover a single topic in depth or be broadly comprehensive
 Usually use variety of formats to aid the learning process
“If I hear , I forget ; If I see, I remember ; If I do, I know”