Health Communication- Definitional

Communication in health happens on many different levels, individual, group or mass-media. This type of communication is defined as a resource that allows health messages (prevention, risk, awareness, etc.) to be used in the education and avoidance of sickness. There are 3 theories that are used in health communication to explain how messages are conveyed between people in the health field.

The first is the theory of planned behavior. This theory has three components, attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control. They all connect to the middle which is behavioral intentions. Behavioral intentions then connects directly to behavior. This theory states that the main determinant of behavior is based on the persons intention to perform said behavior and their intention is determined by three factors. The first is the attitude to the behavior or the pros and cons of that behavior. The second is the subjective norm or the social pressure from significant others and the third is the perceived behavioral control or the perception that the person has about their ability to perform the behavior.

The second theory is the health belief model which is used as a pattern to evaluate individual change. This model of communication suggests that a person's behavior can be predicted by the basis of how weak or vulnerable they consider themselves to be. The person has to weigh the benefits and negative aspects before performing a behavior because of their vulnerability needs. There are four factors that need to take place in order for a behavior change to occur. The first is the person needs to have an incentive to change their behavior. The second is that the person must feel that there is a risk if they continue their current behavior. The third is they must believe their change will have benefits and the fourth is the person must have the confidence to make the change.

The stages of change model is the third theory. It is shaped like a wheel and suggests that people make changes to their behavior at certain stages of their life rather than making one major change. The order the cycle goes in is pre-contemplation, contemplation, readiness to change, action, maintaining changes and relapse. A person can start at any of the stages and choose to move to the next stage at any time. This model is very appealing because of the simplicity of it. It was originally designed for smoking interventions but it has been used for promoting fruit and vegetable consumption, injury prevention and physical activity promotion.

All of these theories can be used to describe health communication and how people communicate in the health profession. These help us to understand how health care providers help people gain better information in order to get the best treatment possible.

The Theory of Planned Behavior Model: