Association of Schools and Programs in Public Health
The importance of communication in places with an audience cannot be stressed. Communication immensely contributes to prevention in a bid to promote health in a given population. According to healthy people 2010, health communication refers to the technique of informing individuals, audiences and audiences with the aim of influencing their health decisions. It is important for health communicators to possess a clear comprehension of the community and use a simple language when passing information to them (Sit, Capio, Abernethy & McKenzie, 2014).
Communication in public health may both be oral and written. The most commonly used form of communication while addressing people is by use of mouth. Effective health communication not only raises people’s awareness about their environment but also they become aware of options available whenever their health becomes compromised. Dissemination of information about people’s health through public rallies and campaigns has enabled people to change their behavior and attitude towards the recommended health practices. Some have quit unhealthy living standards such as smoking due to a form of communication that they had lacked for a long time (Bernhardt, 2014).
The community can influence public health both negatively and negatively. Negative influences may arise from practices such as careless disposal of wastes, open defecation and lack of sewage systems. Positively, people influence their public health situations through activism and advocating for money to be disseminated into their place to develop structures such as dumping sites and public toilets. It is worth to note that the decisions people make are influenced by certain factors. They include but not limited to cultural and religious practices, socio-economic status and educational level. It goes without saying that an enlightened population will do all it can, according to its means to influence policies that would positively influence their health (Hunting & Gleason, 2012).
References
Bernhardt, J. M. (2014). Communication at the core of effective public health.
Hunting, K., & Gleason, B. L. (2012). Essential case studies in public health: Putting public health into practice. Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Sit, C. H. P., Capio, C. M., Abernethy, A. B., & McKenzie, T. L. (2014). Healthy People 2010. Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research.
