SPARE THE ROD AND GET RESULTS: A WELLNESS APPROACH TO HEALTH PROMOTION MEDIA

SPARE THE ROD AND GET RESULTS: A WELLNESS APPROACH TO HEALTH PROMOTION MEDIA

Michael P. Haines, M.S.

This is a reprint of an article published in Wellness Management, the newsletter of the National Wellness Association vol. 13, no. 3, Fall, 1997 pp.1&4.

Scare tactics are among the most common methods used in the health and wellness field to motivate behavior change and justify programs: "If you eat too much fat you'll die of cancer," "If you don't wear a condom, you'll get AIDS," "If you don't exercise aerobically, you'll have a heart attack." Communication research suggests scare tactics have limited use in effective health promotion campaigns.

Even today, a large number of health promotion campaigns are based on a simple strategy: get behind people with a big stick (lots of threat and fear) in hope that this will drive them in the right direction. Unfortunately, in the case of health promotion, this strategy has met with little success¹. This approach (what I call the don't-run-with-a-sharp-stick-you'll-poke-your-eye-out message) of health educators not only fails to promote health but may even encourage greater health risks.

The Speed Trap Effect: Scare tactics grab attention and may even change behavior but only for a moment, much like a motorist on the highway who sees a state trooper in the median. He takes his foot off the gas and drives at the safer speed for about one mile and then returns to the same risk behavior.

The Surrender: The scary message gives the impression that the risk is so powerful and pervasive that people give up any hope of protecting themselves from harm. Some years ago the National Cancer Institute (NCI) evaluated their media campaigns. The researchers reported many people had the impression that everything causes cancer and they were powerless to protect themselves, surrendering to the idea that it was just fate that determined their health. The NCI immediately adopted a new campaign: "Eleven Things That Don't Cause Cancer." Wherein their media described behaviors which research suggested had some degree of preventing cancers.

The Jaws Syndrome:Some populations may become excited instead of frightened by the scary media. This excitement feels good so they seek more and stronger exposure to the source of the excitement/fear. After Jaws (the movie) was released, teens, young adults, and other thrill-seekers flocked to the beaches where Jaws was filmed. Other scary movies have also been associated with copycat effects.

Imaginary Peers: The scare tactic exaggerates both the risks and the prevalence of the harm. This over-focus on a serious problem which occurs rarely gives the unintended message that the problem is everywhere. It becomes the cultural norm creating imaginary peer pressure to be ill, too; everyone else is ill/victim/addicted, what's wrong with me? I'm well.

Instead of using a big scary stick, wellness professionals and other health promoters may be well served by the "carrot" approach. Successful use of positive messages normalizes and rewards wellness instead of demonizing and punishing illness with negative messages. Advertising and marketing experts know this. Commercial media use "feel-good" messages to transfer positive value to the product, positive role modeling, and normative influence to change buying habits. The expanding field of social marketing has been suggesting positive media as an effective method for some time. (Social marketing borrows successful methods which are used by the commercial sector to sell products in order to promote attitudes and behaviors for social good.)

This wellness approach to health messages requires a paradigm shift in thinking about media. Using the "Media PIE" (see below) and the following steps should help with this transition.

Identify wellness behaviors already practiced by the target population.
Every community, nearly every social network, already has some behaviors, beliefs, or rituals which provide healthy direction and protection. Observe, conduct interviews, focus groups, and surveys to identify this instinctive wellness. Train your eye to see the native strength, the natural ability, and the organic health of the community.

Develop enhancements to these behaviors which, with little effort, will make them more potent.
The media should increase awareness of the health benefits, pleasure, and prevalence of the wellness behavior. Message content could include instructions on how to add health value to the behavior. Messages use incentives or rewards to expand wellness behaviors and remove obstacles by suggesting more convenient ways to participate.

Promote new behaviors which are consistent with the population's needs and cultural norms.
Build upon natural wellness behaviors by suggesting new methods or strategies.

Use this PIE to evaluate media which you are considering for your wellness program. Media which fails to meet any one of these criteria, should be avoided.

POSITIVE (beneficial, constructive, affirmative, hopeful, optimistic)
Positive media contain achievement messages and define what the population should do. They demonstrate protective strategies and model healthy behaviors. They describe a reward or benefit for those who participate in the behavior. These messages nurture and support. They leave the audience feeling good about themselves and the message content.

INCLUSIVE (incorporating, embracing, involving, comprehensive)
Inclusive media has a message for everyone in the target population. No one is excluded from access to wellness. There is intentional wording and choice of graphics to include the entire cultural and behavioral spectrum represented in the target population. Special attention is given to separate wellness messages from personal morality, partisan politics, legal arguments and sectarian religion. There are non-judgmental protective messages for abstainer, user, and abuser; for celibate, monogamous, and promiscuous; for skinny, fat, and in-between.

EMPOWERING (them/potent, controlling, energizing, strengthening)
Empowering media encourages people to act on their own behalf to solve problems and supports them in taking charge of the problem-solving process. Messages identify resources and access to self-care and provide examples of others just like the target population who have been successful. Avoid health messages that tell people they are powerless victims. These messages drain energy, eliminate power, and neutralize strength.

REFERENCES/RESOURCES

¹ American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 78, pp. 163-167; 1988; R. F. Soames Job.

Report of the Conference on Fear Communications, by R. Craig Lafebvre, Terry Bellicha, William Novelli; American Journal of Health Promotion; Vol. 3, No. 3; Winter, 1989.