Before reading the articles for next week's class, I was reading for my Theory of Health Behavior class which we are also talking about health communication in. The main take-away I had from these readings is that not only do you need to use scientific theory and research in health promotion and communication, but you also need to take your population into account when designing your intervention. You need to assess they're environment and culture, as these could provide barriers to behavior change.
After reading the articles for International Health, I had the same take-away except with a different view. Again, looking at the culture of your population is very important for behavior change, but it should not be seen as a barrier. Close-knit communities and a strong sense of culture can be beneficial for behavior change interventions. The way researchers of Western societies want to change behaviors, does not always work in developing countries. Developing nations such as sub-Saharan Africa, have very strong community ties. One will not adopt a behavior if it is not accepted by their family and if it is not a norm in the society. For nations like this, we need to tackle disparities at more of a community level, rather than at the individual level. Their strong culture and community ties can help everyone achieve a goal together. If the leaders of the community show support, odds are that the rest of the community will follow.
In conclusion, researchers need to pay very close attention to the culture and environment of their target population. We cannot tell a vulnerable population to fear a disease and promote behavior change if they do not have the resources to do so, or if it does not follow their beliefs. We need more models that can be customized to specific regions and populations and we need put importance on the targeted population's opinions.
Hi Hannah,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. The way to make interventions more causal in action is through the community leaders; especially tribal leaders as we mentioned in last class on maternal health and malnutrition. There is minimal research out there that assesses this in any type of measurement (qual or quant) but in order for this change in strategy that you speak about here to happen is an increase in quantifiable measurement of such an instance that public health professionals and governments can refer to in order for it to be deemed as a most dominant option. I say this time and time again where this is also important in preventing acculturation to happen when we 'do' or carry out intervention programs in such communities. Also being cognitive of the fact not to create a culture of dependency. I like your point in emphasizing the populations' opinions; making them heard is such a human right and speak to gaining a empowerment, one that can lead to self-efficacy and subjective wellbeing.
Great post!
Hannah,
ReplyDeleteI agree, that in order to have effective health communication you have to look at the cultural norm/community norms. A communication strategy that works well for one group of people may not be translational to another group. The environment that a person lives in affects all aspects of their life therefore researchers must pay particular attention to environment to determine whether interventions are sustainable. We should also communicate on a level that the community can understand. For instance going into a community and expounding upon a theological model and how it would greatly benefit them is not effective if the community cannot understand or relate to the theory. We must be sensitive to break things down on a level that is understandable to lay people. I am not saying treat communities as if they are ignorant, but don't speak over their heads then think that they are uneducated. Speak the language of the people and we would have effective communication.
Hannah, Amy & Chris
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you. When we tend to intervene through changing people behavior, we should be aware whether the environment is conductive to such a change or not from all aspects, cuturally, socially and financially. In my opinion, generalization in applying a specefic interventon is not effective or even harmful. Every population has its oun culture and values that should be taken into consideration. Besides, allowing target people to participate in planning such interventions significantly increase their acceptance and adherence. In my opinion, neglecting people voice is considered to be some sort of "structural violence" that some public health professionals, sadly, tend to practice subconciously during their practices!