EPID 693: Sp. Topics: Health Communications
EPID 693 May Kennedy, PhD, MPH
Sp. Topics: Health Communications
Semester course, 3 lecture hours, 3 credits. Topics covered in
the course include: history and theories of health communication,
social marketing and media advocacy, audience research and segmentation,
entertainment education, e-health, provider/patient communication, technology
transfer to service providers, media relations and media monitoring, emergency
risk communication, and evaluating communication campaigns.
Spring semester
Professor: May G. Kennedy, Ph.D, M.P.H.
Office location: Grant House, 3rd Floor
Office Hours:
Thursday, 4-5 pm, and by appointment
Phone: 804-828-4548
Email: mgkennedy@vcu.edu
Regular mail:
VCU
Developing School of Public Health
1008 Clay Street
Grant House
P.O. Box 980212
Richmond, VA 980212
Required Texts:
Thompsen, T. L., Dorsey, A., Miller, K., & Parrott, R. (Eds.) (2003) Handbook of Health Communication, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Paperback, $75.00 new, will be available from the book store.
Valente, T. W. (2002) Evaluating Health Promotion Programs. Oxford University Press. Hard back, $49.95 new, will be available from the book store.
National Cancer Institute (2001) Making Health Communication Programs Work. (Also called the Pink Book.) Go to www.cancer.gov/pinkbook to download or to https://cissecure.nci.nih.gov/ncipubs/viewcart.asp to order a free copy.
To be distributed in class at no charge:
CDCynergy: Social Marketing edition, version 1.
Lecture Topics (draft list):
1. History and theories of (and relevant to) health communication
2. Social marketing & media advocacy
3. Audience research and segmentation
4. Cultural tailoring and health literacy
5. Entertainment Education
6. E-health
(midterm – week 7)
7. Provider/patient communication (guest lecture)
8. Technology transfer to service providers
9. Branding and Cause-related Marketing
10. Media Relations & Media Monitoring
12. Emergency Risk Communication
13. Evaluating Communication Campaigns
(final – week 15)
Each lecture will consist of 2 parts.
Part 1.
The topic of the day will be presented by the instructor or guest lecturer and discussed by the class. There will be assigned readings on the topic. Students will choose 3 of the topics and prepare 1-page reviews of them in a format provided by the instructor.
Part 2.
Students will work through the 6-phase Social Marketing version of CDCynergy, a CD-ROM-based program planning tool, using simulated data. The phases are (1) health problem identification, (2) audience research, (3) designing a marketing mix strategy, (4) planning intervention details and testing messages, creative concepts and final copy, (5) evaluation planning, and (6) execution of the program and its evaluation.
The students will play roles based on actual or desired expertise as they function as a coalition of volunteers and health department officials. The task of the coalition will be to select a target audience and design and mount an intervention to address a health problem that can be ameliorated by behavior change. Students will learn to write an epidemiological profile of a target audience based data available from routine surveillance, facilitate focus groups, work with “creatives” from advertising agencies, conduct concept and copy testing, do desk-side briefings of health reporters and write press releases, track program exposure and outcomes, and develop a plan for disseminating findings. Every week, one of the roles will be most active and students in that role will provide input to the simulated planning process. One way that they will provide this assistance is to interview a local professional in the field and ask for technical assistance or advice.
