Running Head: APPLICATION OF HEALTH COMMUNICATION1
Bacterial Meningitis and the Community: Health Communication Defined and Applied
Nipa Patel
Concordia University, Nebraska
APPLICATION OF HEALTH COMMUNICATION1
Bacterial Meningitis and the Community: Health Communication Defined and Applied
Communication is essential between all human beings. It is a key factor to human survival. Communication involves a sender, message, channel and receiver. It is important how the message is sent and received. Some theories of communication are persuasion theory, mass communication theory and cultivation theory of mass media. Communication for persuasion theory involves influencing attitudes or behaviors to an audience. The persuasive communication theory “connects with the study of leadership, rhetoric, social mobilization and crowd behavior” (The Unbounded Spirt, n.d). Speakers with more experience are more persuasive as well as speakers who speak fast. Similarly, popular communicators are more effective in getting the word across (The Unbounded Spirt, n.d). The next theory, mass communication, is where a person or a group of people send a message through a channel of communication to the public. These channels include television, newspaper, radio, computer, and fliers (Akin, 2005). According to Akin, mass communication delivers “advertisements, news, opinion, music and other forms of communication to a wide variety of people.” Lastly, cultivation theory of mass media states that too much exposure to television can create a world that is not real (Matei, 2012). Mateipoints out that people who watch a great deal of television are more likely to be anomic, accept stereotypes, and fear crime victimization. This is a passive learning theory rather than a behavior theory because as content changes in television over time, the viewer’s attitude changes too (Matei, 2012).
Health Communication
Health communication has much to offer in the healthcare. Health communication is important for the well-being of the society (Rimal & Lapinski, 2015). Rimal and Lapinski also state that “health communication scholars recognize the importance of disease prevention through communication.”
Rimal and Lapinskimentioned that it is important to know how the message is transmitted, to whom the message is going to, how audience responds and the impact of the message. The authors said,“Health communication is combining theory and practice in understanding communication processes and changing human behavior since many diseases are rooted from human behavior” (Rimal & Lapinksi, 2015).
The Threat
The City of Chicago is the life of Illinois. It is a multicultural city that is proud of its diversity. The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) is one of the largest Universities in the Chicagoland. Unfortunately, seven cases of bacterial meningitis have been diagnosed among UIC students.
It has been reported each year in 2003-2007 that about 4,100 cases and 500 deaths of bacterial meningitis in the United States (Center of Disease and Prevention [CDC], 2014). Bacterial meningitis is caused byNeisseria meningitides or Streptococcus pneumonia (CDC, 2014). Risk factors of bacterial meningitis include:
- Age: People of any age can get bacterial meningitis, but infants have a greaterrisk.
- Community setting: Bacterial meningitis spreads fast where many people reside in close contact.
- Medical conditions: Risk of meningitis is high with certain diseases, medication or surgical procedures.
- Working with pathogens that cause meningitis: Microbiologist who works with meningitis pathogens are at a higher risk.
- Travel: People who travel to the sub-Saharan Africa and Mecca are at higher danger to be exposed to bacterial meningitis (CDC, 2014).
According to CDC, bacteria of meningitis are contagious and can spread through respiratory and throat secretions. Symptoms of this infection includefever, headache, stiff neck, nausea, vomiting, photophobia and confusion (CDC, 2014). Vaccines are the more effective way to protect again certain bacterial meningitis. Antibiotics are also recommended for those who come in close contact of the infected. In addition CDC states, maintaining healthy habits and keeping distance from people who have bacterial meningitis will help in prevention. Treatment for bacterial meningitis is effective with antibiotics, but it should start early or death can occur (CDC, 2014). Since this infection is dangerous and contagious, prevention is a must.
The Message
Due to the high number of cases at the UIC campus of bacterial meningitis, the University officials have decided to take the help from the Illinois Department of Public Health to communicate about this infection to both the UIC community and all of Chicagoland. The public health officials will use effective formsof communication to educate and aware the community about bacterial meningitis. Their goal is to deliver the message on how to prevent bacterial meningitis from spreading.
Communication with the University Officials
During the first meeting with the University officials, the public health communicators will use the persuasive theory to convince the University officials to have complete faith in them. They need to show confidence in their own work for the University officials to believe them. It is normal for such an outbreak to cause public and officials to panic. Public health communicators will decrease their panic and educate them about the infection and assure them that the communication will defiantly be a positive impact.
It is important that the public health communicators meet frequently with the University officials to plan the steps and see the progress of the communication. Public health communicators along with the University officials will set up dates and times for when the communication with take place with students, faculty, and the public. In addition, they will decide what will be included during the communication.
Communication with the University Health Clinic
The public health communicators will set up a meeting to discuss the outbreak with the University Health Clinic members. This is an important step to effective communication since the health clinic will be able to provide information about the current cases. The public health communicators will look at each of the 7 cases of bacterial meningitis. This will help the public health communicators in communicating with their audience. The health clinic will be able to guide public health communicators on what the students have been told about the infection and about their reaction and if they had any previous knowledge about this type of infection. From then, the public health communicators can create an outline of what to be discussed with the students and faculty.
Communication with Students and Faculty
Students and faculty are the main audience the public health communicators will concentrate on. It is essential to get the attention of this audience. Persuasion theory will be applied by the communicators to get the attention of the audience. Attention can be grabbed by addressing the problem directly in order for them to understand the seriousness of it. It would be helpful to give examples of their own peers who are suffering from such infection and persuade them that something must be done in order to protect themselves. It would be supportive if both the University officials as well as their own medical staff are present during communication. This will provide them a comfort zone and not just being stuck in a room with health officials they have never met before. In addition, the presence of the University officials and medical staff will impact how much they believe the public health communicators.
Mass communication theory can be applied to advertise seminars and inform students and faculty about the infection. Posters will be posted all around the campus stating the importance of these seminars with times and dates. In addition, brochures will be given out by public health helpers around the campus. These will have basic information about the infection in addition to seminar information. Some people might not be interested in these seminars, but with these brochures they will still get information and have a help line number. Brochures will also be given to some classes where professors can hand them out. In addition, the information about the seminars will be posted on the University website. Along with seminar information, the University website will be used as a form of communication with the UIC campus. Basic information about the infection and prevention methods will be listed. A mass mail to all UIC students and faculty will be sent out informing them about the infectious outbreak and what steps can be taken.
The communication seminars will take place at the University auditorium which will be open to all students and faculty. The seminars will be 5 days a week, 3 times for 2 weeks. This will give everyone a chance to attend the seminars. In the seminars, students and faculty will be given basic information about bacterial meningitis such as the causes, symptoms, prevention methods and treatment. In addition, information on how to gain more knowledge and what the next steps are if one has symptoms of bacterial meningitis. Public health communicators will show the message through power point which is a great visual contact with pictures, graphs and tables. They will also share stories of patients with bacterial meningitis. It is important for the communicators to mention prevention and solution methods to decrease panic. The prevention tips they will mention are getting vaccinated, receiving antibiotics, staying healthy, and not having close contact with a person with bacterial meningitis. These seminars will also be a great place for question/answers to be addressed.
Communication with the Public
Since UIC is not an enclosed community, it would only make sense to communicate with all of Chicagoland. Communicating with the general public will ensure that all demographics are being reached. In order to communicate with a larger population a different approach must be taken then when communicating with students and faculty. Mass communication theory will be used again. A couple great sources of communication are the news channel, radio and newspapers. These resources will help send out the basic message that there is an outbreak. These resources will also provide general information on bacterial meningitis. People who previously did not know such an infection exists will be benefited by information provided by the media. These communication channels will send out the main message on how to prevent such an infection. On the other hand, television screening about this issue should be kept to a limit because of the cultivation theory. The public health communicator’s job is not to scare the individuals who use television as their main educational source. They do not want to raise a fear for them that they are the mostvulnerable to this infection. The public health officials do not want them to think that everyone living in a close gathering is bound to get infected. Therefore, television will provide the basic knowledge about the infection and prevention tips with the knowledge that some viewers can be harmed by such communication source.
Assuring that Message is Heard and Understood/ Measuring Compliance
The public health communicators will need to know if the message is being heard and understood. Number one is noticing that the infection rate is not rising. If the rate is not rising, the communicators hit the spot. Next, the communicators must measure compliance and understanding. It is important to get critics and feedback on social media and blogs. It is good to hear what the public thinks and their critics would be a great feedback to improve communication methods. Compliance can also be measured by voluntary survey for students and faculty. This survey would test their knowledge on the prevention methods of the infection. This again will assure if the message of the communicators are being heard or not.
Available Sources to the Public Health Professionals to follow the Infection
It is obvious that public health officials cannot dedicate a lengthy time in prevention of bacterial meningitis due to other health issues around the community. In this case, they have provided written form of communication in their posters, brochures, blogs, and mass emails. They have created a number which can be dialed anytime for help regarding questions on bacterial meningitis. This number is provided on all written communication forms. The Illinois Department of Public Health will keep blogs open for open ended question/answers for public and professionals. With the help of medical practices in the area, the local public health office can keep their statistics on infection rates up to date and inform the public. These sources will be a way to keep the UIC and the Chicagoland connected to public health officials.
Conclusion
Health communication plays an essentialpart in influencing the public behavior. The communication must have a clear goal, the correct target and a well-organized channel of communication. Most importantly the communicators must hold strong communication skills. These communication methods were used during the bacterial meningitis outbreak in the UIC community. The Illinois Department of Public Health communicated with the University officials, medical staff, students, faculty and the rest of the public. Their message was to prevent further outbreak of bacterial meningitis through education. The communication portals the communicators used were seminars, posters, mass-mail, webpages, and television. After delivering the message, the communicators made it their responsibility to follow up if the goal was met or not. They did this by measuring compliance and keeping communication open for the public. They saw that their goal was reached when no more cases of bacterial meningitis were reported in the town.
Recommendation
In order to improve health communication in this scenario, other resources that can be used are personal stories. The health communicators mentioned to the audience that their locals were infected, but did not release their stories. With the permission of the individuals, these stories would be helpful to influence the audience. They will feel a close connection to these people since they reside in close areas. In addition, the treatment process of these individuals will be an eye opener for the audience. Many people think they are not vulnerable to such infection, but if stories of their neighbors are shared, they will be more cautious and take steps for prevention. The next recommendation for health communicators would be to talk about medical clinics that offer vaccines and antibiotics at a free or reduced cost. This will certainly catch attention for many people. They will take advantage of this offer and get these vaccines and antibiotics. The current methods and these recommendations will advance future health communications
References
Akin, J. (2005). Mass media. Retrieved from
Center of Disease and Prevention (CDC). (2014). Bacterial meningitis. Retrieved from
Mateim S.A. (2012) Cultivation theory and mass communication research, from left to right. Retrieved from
Rimal, R.N., Lapinski, M.K. (2015). Why health communication is important in public health. World Health Organization. Retrieved from
The Unbounded Spirit. (n.d). Persuasive communication. Retrieved from
The University of Illinois. (n.d). UC: At a glance. Retrieved from