Title: Strategic Communication in Urban Health Settings: Taking the Pulse of Emerging Needs and Trends
Authors: Renata Schiavo, PhD, MA and Radhika Ramesh, MA
Thank you to all who participated in our online survey on Strategic Communication in Urban Settings. We thought to share with you some of the emerging needs and trends we are able to extrapolate from the responses.
____________________________________________
Why This Survey
Strategic health communication interventions in urban settings present many similarities with health communication planning, implementation and evaluation in other settings. In fact, interventions in all settings should be firmly grounded in communication theory and rely on strategic and research-based planning frameworks that aim at behavioral, social behavior and organizational change/results (Schiavo, 2007). However, a specific set of issues, trends and challenges may influence interventions in urban settings and should be addressed as part of training modules and sessions intended for public health professionals and non-profit organizations.
Training of public health professionals in strategic health communication and its integrated action areas, including interpersonal communication/community dialogue, mass media and new media communication, public advocacy, community engagement and mobilization, constituency relations and professional medical communication (Schiavo, 2007), is an increasingly vital requirement for effective public health communication interventions that aim to generate improved health outcomes. This online survey sought to identify specific needs and preferences that may inform training efforts for communication in urban settings.
Key findings highlight several areas of need, with particular emphasis on training modules and sessions that address the issues of diversity and health disparities, which are very prominent in urban settings. Respondents pointed to the need for tools and strategies that would help them tailor communication interventions to different populations (both in relation to different racial and ethnic groups as well as various socioeconomic levels) within highly diverse contexts and given potential limitation of resources. Specific training needs were primarily related to the following topics: health disparities, diversity, communication framing and tailoring, and communication planning and evaluation methods. Given the limited sample size of survey respondents, the findings reported here should be only considered as a snapshot of potential trends and needs that require future and more formal investigation.
____________________________________________
Methods
The survey was designed and administered by Strategic Communication Resources, a NY-based consulting practice with which both authors are associated. This was an online survey administered via Survey Monkey and publicized via email, as well as a professional networking site (LinkedIn), and The Drum Beat, (the electronic newsletter of the Communication Initiative). The survey was intended for public health and/or health communication professionals in a variety of settings - non-profit organizations, community organizations, foundations, government agencies, and academia - who work or plan work on health communication programs in urban settings. The questionnaire consisted of a combination of multiple choice and open-ended questions.
____________________________________________
Respondents Profile
Forty-three percent (43%) of the 30 respondents worked in public health communication in urban settings at the time the survey was administered, and all but one had at least one year of experience at this time. Most respondents worked for non-profit health organizations/foundations and universities or other academic institutions, although government agencies and health care organizations were also represented.
____________________________________________
Snapshot of Emerging Needs and Trends
Sixty-nine percent (69%) of those respondents who were already working in this field indicated they had not received any training on strategic health communication as it relates to urban settings. Respondents highlighted a variety of training needs, primarily to address racial and ethnic disparities and the diverse needs of different populations in designing and tailoring communication interventions. When asked to identify key factors that may differentiate health communication interventions in urban health settings from those in other settings, respondents chose social environment (social support and social networks, potential isolation of
people and groups, etc.), diversity, disparities in the availability and access to health and social services, and population density as top differentiators. Interestingly, it can be surmised from the responses of those who reported having received some training on urban health communication, that the training did not adequately cover the entire strategic health communication planning, implementation and evaluation cycle, but instead focused on specific topics, such as risk communication, cardiovascular disease, social networking, public relations, language barriers, communicating with adolescents about sexual health, etc. This points to a very fragmented level of knowledge and training among the professionals who completed the survey. Most importantly, there was no reference to any training on understanding, engaging and mobilizing relevant groups and audiences – one of the key pillars of strategic health communication planning (Schiavo, 2007). This is instrumental to addressing issues of diversity and disparities and allows average citizens and communities to become involved and participate in program development as well as in achieving health and social behavior-related results.
An analysis of survey data indicates that respondents did not feel adequately comfortable designing and implementing communication interventions within diverse settings in which health disparities were a prominent issue. Responses underscore the need for a more comprehensive approach to training on tailored communication strategies. They also point to the importance of developing training modules that take into account the complexity and high level of diversity and disparity of urban settings, including strategies for resource allocation, tailored communication, audience segmentation and selection, community dialogue and engagement, needs assessment and - most importantly - RM&E (Research, Monitoring and Evaluation) approaches to identify key factors that may contribute to disparities within specific communities and settings as well as establishing adequate evaluation and progress indicators. Responses also revealed the existence of training needs pertaining to message development, behavior change communication, formative research, grassroots communication, measuring communication uptake, and impact assessment.
Ninty-four percent (94%) of respondents favored in-person interactive training and 69% preferred a mentoring program (that may include in-person or online training, followed by periodic update sessions and follow up during the first 6 months to 1 year after training). Only 44% of respondents preferred webinars and 31% voted for online training, revealing that while new media and social media-based interventions are increasingly allowing communities and professionals to overcome geographical, cost- and time-related barriers and - ultimately have access to some training - interpersonal communication settings and strategies may continue to be the preferred training modality. Financial constraints emerged as the top obstacle to adequate training (81% of respondents), followed by lack of senior management's interest in the topic, insufficient human resources and no real investment in professional development.
____________________________________________
Emerging Trends and Needs: Potential Implications for Future Efforts
Given the low number of survey participants, survey results and related analyses should be considered preliminary. However, survey responses support the need for further and more structured research on the topic, so that the needs and preferences of public health professionals who operate in urban settings can be adequately met. Survey responses also suggest the need for training materials and interactive modules to comprehensively address the special challenges and needs associated with diversities and disparities that are so prevalent in urban settings. Respondents also expressed a strong preference for training modules and sessions that take place within an interpersonal communication setting such as in person/interactive training sessions, which generally allow for more in-depth discussions and further tailoring of training topics to the specific case studies and questions brought to the session by all attendees. An iteration of this survey analysis will be used to inform a book chapter on Strategic Health Communication in Urban Settings: A Template for Training Modules (R. Schiavo – currently under development)
____________________________________________
Report posted on May 4, 2010.
Citation: Schiavo, R. and Ramesh, R. Strategic Communication in Urban Health Settings: Taking the Pulse of Emerging Needs and Trends. Online report, May 4, 2010. Strategic Communication Resources, New York, NY. http://www.renataschiavo.com/surveyresultsnew.html
Please also view a recent summary report published on the Communication Initiative Network here.
|
