Health Communication Channels Research Articles

Information Seeking and Receiving of Older Adults with Diabetes in the Online Health Community: An Information Need Contextualization Perspective

ABSTRACT Online health communities (OHCs) are important online health communication channels for older adults with diabetes to access health information. When seeking health information, they often disclose a variety of contextual information (e.g., socio-economic situations) in their questions. Selective contextual information disclosure is a type of communication strategy for users in OHCs to elicit replies from others. In this study, we adopted text analysis to investigate what contextual information older adults with diabetes disclose to articulate their information needs and used the fixed-effect Poisson model to examine the relationships between different types of contextual information disclosure and informational support receipt. Our analyses were based on a dataset of 4,505 questions and corresponding replies from an online diabetes community. The results showed that cognitive information is the most frequently disclosed contextual information, while older adults tend to disclose demographic information in their questions less. Providing demographic and situational details in questions can enhance informational support receiving, resulting in an increased number of informational supports. However, disclosing cognitive, affective, informational channels, or support information does not significantly affect the informational support receiving. These findings can contribute to extending our existing understanding of information seekers’ communication strategies in OHCs.

One Health communication channels: a qualitative case study of swine influenza in Canada in 2020

BackgroundWith increased attention to the importance of integrating the One Health approach into zoonotic disease surveillance and response, a greater understanding of the mechanisms to support effective communication and information sharing across animal and human health sectors is needed. The objectives of this qualitative case study were to describe the communication channels used between human and animal health stakeholders and to identify the elements that have enabled the integration of the One Health approach.MethodsWe combined documentary research with interviews with fifteen stakeholders to map the communication channels used in human and swine influenza surveillance in Alberta, Canada, as well as in the response to a human case of H1N2v in 2020. A thematic analysis of the interviews was also used to identify the barriers and facilitators to communication among stakeholders from the animal and human health sectors.ResultsWhen a human case of swine influenza emerged, the response led by the provincial Chief Medical Officer of Health involved players at various levels of government and in the human and animal health sectors. The collaboration of public and animal health laboratories and of the swine sector, in addition to the information available through the surveillance systems in place, was swift and effective. Elements identified as enabling smooth communication between the human and animal health systems included preexisting relationships between the various stakeholders, a relationship of trust between them (e.g., the swine sector and their perception of government structures), the presence of stakeholders acting as permanent liaisons between the ministries of health and agriculture, and stakeholders' understanding of the importance of the One Health approach.ConclusionsInformation flows through formal and informal channels and both structural and relational features that can support rapid and effective communication in infectious disease surveillance and outbreak response.

The role, impact, and responsibilities of health experts on social media. A focus group study with future healthcare workers

People are increasingly turning to social media platforms to acquire information and seek advice on health matters. Consequently, a growing number of qualified healthcare professionals are using social media as channels for public health communication. On platforms such as YouTube and Instagram, health workers can reach a wide and interested audience while applying powerful tools for presentation and interaction. However, such platforms also represent certain challenges and dilemmas when doctors and psychologists become health influencers. Who do they represent? What style of communication is expected? And what responsibilities do they have toward their followers? The present study contributes to the field of investigation by employing qualitative methods. It is based on three focus group interviews conducted with students enrolled in health-related study programmes at Norwegian universities. The paper asks: How do future healthcare workers perceive the social media practices of popular healthcare experts regarding the advantages and dilemmas associated with such practices?

Role of ehealth literacy, learning styles, and patterns of web-based e-content access for seeking health information among dental university students in Vadodara, India.

Individual's learning style, ehealth literacy, and preferred web-based e-content and channel to access information determines how one makes sense of health information on the Internet. Understanding these dynamics will help design suitable e-contents and choose appropriate channels for effective health communication. To assess the relationship between ehealth literacy, learning styles, and web-based e-content accessed for receiving health information among dental college students in Vadodara, India. A cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted among all consenting Undergraduate Students (UGs), interns, and Postgraduate Students (PGs) of a dental college in Vadodara, India, from July to August 2022. The questionnaire used to collect data included questions on general information, eHealth literacy scale (eHEALS), Visual Auditory Reading/Writing Kinaesthetic (VARK) Questionnaire, and preferences of web-based e-content for receiving health information. Completely filled questionnaires were subject to statistical analysis: descriptive (means and percentages) and inferential (analysis of variance tests and odds ratio). 285 out of 380 students filled out the questionnaires completely (75% response rate). All reported using Internet for receiving health information. Majority preferred textual ehealth message (71%) and access websites (80%). Students were quadmodal (98.%) and trimodal (2%) learners who learned predominantly through kinaesthetic methods (46%). Mean eHEALS score of the group was 30.27 ± 3.41. There was a statistically significant association between preference for sharing channels and being a kinaesthetic learner (OR = 1.6; P = 0.04). Participants were multi-modal, predominantly kinaesthetic learners. The association between the preference for video-sharing channels and being kinaesthetic learner suggests the need and scope for demonstrative and interactive video-based health educational tools, with the endorsement of health authorities based on health policy.

The individual-level effects of social media campaigns related to healthy eating, physical activity, and healthy weight: Anarrative review.

Social media are promising channels for health communication promoting positive weight-related behaviors, but no prior studies have synthesized evidence on the independent effects of social media campaigns focused on promoting healthy eating, physical activity (PA), and healthy weight. This study aimed to fill that gap and inform future social media-based obesity-prevention research and practice by reviewing findings from studies testing the effects of such campaigns on individual-level cognitive, behavioral, and anthropometric outcomes. The Web of Science and PubMed databases were searched for peer-reviewed articles published between 2012 and 2023 that explored the independent effects of social media campaigns related to healthy eating, PA, or weight management. Study characteristics and outcomes were extracted and summarized. Eleven studies were included in this review describing campaigns targeting healthy eating-related outcomes (e.g., fruit and vegetable consumption, meal preparation, nutrition label reading), PA, or weight management. Most campaigns (n=7) were developed by universities or research centers. Priority audiences included parents, adult females, adolescents, college students, and adult government employees. The majority (n=8) of the campaigns used single platforms, with the most common being Facebook, Instagram, blogs, and YouTube. Campaigns had mixed effects on cognitive outcomes (e.g., intention, attitude, knowledge), behavioral outcomes (e.g., food choices, PA), and anthropometric outcomes (e.g., weight, waist circumference). Social media campaigns focused on promoting healthy eating, PA, and healthy weight had mixed effects on individual-level cognitive, behavioral, and anthropometric outcomes. Various limitations of the included studies make it difficult to ascertain which factors influence campaign effectiveness. Advancing knowledge in this area is important, particularly given social media's widespread use and potential for broad reach. New research with features such as rigorous study designs, larger and more diverse samples, and strong theoretical foundations may provide important insights into what types of interventions are effective or not and under what conditions.

Health risk communication and infodemic management in Iran: development and validation of a conceptual framework

ObjectiveThe COVID-19 pandemic exposed significant gaps in Iran’s and other health systems’ risk communication. The accompanying infodemic undermined policy responses, amplified distrust in government and reduced adherence to public health...

Use of twitter for health communication

Introduction: Social media have become one of the leading health communication channels among the exponents of Health 2.0. Twitter has particularly noteworthy features for providing information quickly and easily. However, there is still controversy about the convenience of its use. Objectives: This paper aims to identify the main topics of health covered, the uses of Twitter in health communication and to characterize the valences (positive and negative) associated with each use. Methodology: To do that, we conducted a systematic review following PRISMA guidelines. Two databases (Web of Science and Pubmed) were searched, and 610 articles were retrieved. After removing duplicates, screening the titles and abstracts and assessing the full texts, 83 papers met the inclusion criteria. Results: The review identified five uses of Twitter: Conversation, Engagement, Information, Prevention, and Awareness, and it established the definitions of the positive and negative valences associated with each use. The most common uses found were Conversation and Engagement. Likewise, the two areas most studied were Public Health and Infectious Diseases. Conclusion: There is no consensus on the usefulness of Twitter as a tool for information or for generating debate, although the platform’s effectiveness for measuring the impact of health campaigns was highlighted.

Health Communication, Knowledge and Practice towards Prostate cancer in Kwara State, Nigeria

In response to the global call for strategic information to comprehend prostate cancer, this study evaluated the health communication on behavioral practice of prostate cancer in Kwara state, Nigeria. Existing studies in Nigeria on prostate cancer have mostly focused on health practitioners and their patients, ignoring specific empirical data on semi-urban and urban context. This study looks at health communication channels as predictors of knowledge, attitude, and behavioral practices, with a focus on Ilorin, Nigeria’s Kwara state, which has the highest prostate cancer prevalence rate. A total of 336 respondents from Kwara State, Nigeria, were randomly selected using the multistage sample procedure for the survey. The findings show Knowledge of prostate cancer was highest amongst study participants who used the radio (4.00 ± 1.06) and television (3.64 ± 0.51) while it was low amongst those who relied on the internet (3.48 ± 0.50) and health professionals (3.16 ± 0.66) as their primary source of information. Contrastingly, practice was highest amongst persons who used the internet (3.60 ± 0.20) as their primary information source and lowest amongst those who used the television (2.50 ± 1.52) and Health Professionals (2.44 ± 0.65). Demographically, respondents in the 46-55 age group scored the highest (3.93 ± 0.71) as compared to those in the 26-35 (3.43 ± 0.68) who scored the lowest on the knowledge scale.The study concludes that health communication outlets such as television, the Internet, radio, newspapers, and health workers have a good impact on the people of Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria. The study suggests creating a nationwide prostate cancer communication system to improve the knowledge, attitude and practice of people, towards the attainment of Sustainable Development Goal 3.

Core-Periphery Detection of Health Message Campaign on Social Media During COVID-19

Health communication is an essential factor to control pandemics and outbreaks. Social media is one of the prominently used channels for health communication during the recent pandemic, COVID-19. The identification of the key players of a communication network can play a crucial role in the success of health communication. Different studies identify the key players using social network analysis methods. However, most of them focused on trending hashtags generated by the users, not on a hashtag launched officially by a health organization. This research aims to conduct a social network analysis on an organized health awareness campaign launched on Twitter by the Saudi Ministry of Health called "Natawan ma Natahawan", meaning cooperating not neglecting, that is, this health message campaign aims at encouraging people to cooperate and not relax in implementing preventive measures. 40108 tweets from the hashtag were collected using Twitter API. Two types of analysis were conducted: network property analysis and core-periphery detection. As a result, we found that the users of the network are closely connected but have much fewer connections than expected. Moreover, only four users were identified as key players on the network. All four nodes are trusted parties, as two of them are the campaign launchers, and the other two are official accounts that support them. This structure, i.e., the leadership of the network by trusted parties, enabled the control of the health message communication and limited the spread of the misinformation within social media users during the campaign.

A participatory epidemiological and One Health approach to explore the community's capacity to detect emerging zoonoses and surveillance network opportunities in the forest region of Guinea.

The Ebola virus disease epidemic that threatened West Africa between 2013 and 2016 was of unprecedented health magnitude. After this health crisis, studies highlighted the need to introduce community-based surveillance systems and to adopt a One Health approach. This study aimed to provide preparatory insights for the definition of a community-based surveillance system for emerging zoonoses such as viral hemorrhagic fevers in Guinea. The objective was to explore the disease detection capacity and the surveillance network opportunities at the community level in two pilot areas in the forest region of Guinea, where the epidemic emerged. Based on a participatory epidemiological and One Health approach, we conducted Focus Group Discussions with human, animal and ecosystem health actors. We used a range of participatory tools, included semi-structured interviews, ranking, scoring and flow diagram, to estimate the local knowledge and perception of diseases and clinical signs and to investigate the existing health information exchange network and its related strengths and weaknesses. The results showed that there is heterogeneity in knowledge of diseases and perception of the clinical signs among actors and that there are preferred and more effective health communication channels opportunities. This preparatory study suggests that it is necessary to adapt the case definitions and the health communication channels to the different actors who can play a role in a future community-based surveillance system and provides recommendations for future surveillance activities to be carried out in West Africa.

The Heart Healthy U Study: Formative Research to Design a Multimedia Campaign for Young Adults

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the US, and a high prevalence of CVD risks has been observed among Black young adults. Physical activity (PA) and healthy eating (HE) are essential components of lowering CVD risk. Therefore, this study explored the barriers, facilitators, behavior change activities, and health communication channels that can inform the development of a multimedia campaign to promote heart health (i.e., PA and HE) among Black young adults. Between September and November 2019, three focus group discussions (FGDs) with a total of 30 students were conducted at a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) campus within the southern region of the US. Lack of time, body shaming in the gym, and limited HE options on campus were identified as some of the barriers to PA and HE. Knowledge of family health history, Instagram influencers, access to a peer trainer and a dietitian were mentioned as facilitators to PA and HE. Participants suggested various activities to promote heart healthy behaviors, including providing factual health information, teaching healthy food preparation skills, and promoting/creating healthy food options events through social media and print as the communication channels. The focus group findings identified barriers, facilitators, health behavior activity ideas, and the communication channels to encourage PA and HE among Black young adults. The results of this study can be used to inform the development of a multimedia campaign to reduce CVD risk among Black young adults.

The Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Internet Traffic in

Health communication is an essential factor to control pandemics and outbreaks. Social media is one of the prominently used channels for health communication during the recent pandemic, COVID-19. The identification of the key players of a communication network can play a crucial role in the success of health communication

Willingness to Receive Periodic Health Examination Based on the Health Belief Model Among the Elderly in Rural China: A Cross-Sectional Study.

PurposeThis study aimed to explore factors affecting behavioral intention of receiving periodic health examinations (hereafter, BIE) among people aged 60 and over in rural China, namely, Shandong Province, using the extended health belief model (EHBM).Patients and MethodsParticipants were selected using stratified multi-stage random sampling. Three cities were selected based on economic level. Subsequently, three counties and three villages were selected from each sample city and county. Finally, 30 respondents were selected from each sample village. Face-to-face surveys were conducted using a structured questionnaire between March and September 2017. Multiple linear regression was conducted to investigate the association between BIE and eight dimensions of EHBM: perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, perceived self-efficacy, cues to action, health knowledge, and social support.ResultsOf the 509 rural respondents aged 60 years and older, the average score of behavioral intention was 4.43±0.80. Multivariate linear regression analysis demonstrated poor BIE among participants who were men, were current smoker, were current drinker, were aged 70 years or over, had lower social support, and perceived lower self-efficacy, less benefits, and more barriers. Among them, barriers were found to have the strongest association with BIE (B’=−0.556; p<0.001). Qualitative interviews revealed that reasons for not receiving periodic health examinations (PHE) included pain, cost, difficulty in finding a health care provider, time and scheduling, potential lack of trust in the physician, and value of the PHE.ConclusionThis study highlighted the importance of psychological variables in the acceptance of PHE among the elderly in rural China and provided insights for further intervention designs targeting identified groups and performed by general practitioners. Addressing medical mistrust, strengthening, and enhancing one’s social support network and health communication channels, such as bulletin boards, may serve to facilitate BIE.

Cash Plus Social and Behavioral Change Communication Approaches to Improve Food Security: Findings From Formative Research With Syrian Refugees in Lebanon

ObjectivesThis study aimed to complement existing cash transfer programs and at improving food security among Syrian refugees (SR) in Lebanon by (1) examining their food literacy and food purchasing behaviors and (2) developing a social and behavioral change communication (SBCC) strategy.MethodsThis qualitative study was conducted (Jan – Feb 2020) in two phases: Phase1 included 2 focus group discussions (FGD) among 21 SR women receiving cash assistance in Tyre, Lebanon to identify food literacy gaps and preferred health communication channels. In addition, in-depth interviews were conducted with key informants (KI) from international and non-governmental organizations working with SR; Phase 2 utilized qualitative findings for the development of a culturally-appropriate SBCC strategy to improve the food purchasing and healthy dietary behaviors of SR. Five months after phase 2, key findings were shared with KI through interviews in a form of ‘member checking’ to enhance data credibility and inform the interpretations of study findings in the context of COVID-19. An inductive approach to textual analysis was used to identify key themes and sub-themes for interpretation.ResultsThree major themes emerged from phase 1 data: Theme 1 reflected the highly precarious conditions of settlement camps that make it difficult for refugees to be food secure. Theme 2 suggested several determinants of food purchasing behaviors (limited nutrition knowledge, poor dietary habits contributing to sub-optimal dietary diversity, and limited exposure to nutrition education on food resource management and budgeting). Theme 3 revealed important nutrition education needs, as well as preferred channels to receive such information (e.g., group education, one-on-one counselling sessions, and WhatsApp-based messaging). Other communication channels suggested by KI, and that differed from those suggested by the refugee community in phase 1, included mass media campaigns and community mobilization.ConclusionsDue to both environmental challenges and individual-level factors, SR living in Tyre, Lebanon were found to have poor dietary choices, thus an SBSS strategy tailored to their needs may help improve their food purchasing behaviors and alleviate their food insecurity levels.Funding SourcesUniversity Research Board grant at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon.

Enhancing FDA's Reach to Minorities and Under-Represented Groups through Training: Developing Culturally Competent Health Education Materials.

Health communications may not reach intended populations due to cultural and language barriers. These barriers may prohibit consumers from understanding information needed to make informed health decisions. It is important to ensure everyone—especially racial and ethnic minorities and under-served and under-represented populations—has access to information on medical products. One strategy to address this issue is to develop trainings and resources to better understand how cultural competency affects the ability to communicate effectively with racial/ethnic minorities. The FDA’s Office of Minority Health & Health Equity developed a 3-module training to (1) increase staff knowledge of the role that cultural competency plays in determining health communication messages and channels and (2) provide tools to assist them in creating culturally-competent strategies and action plans. Offered on 4 occasions, the 4.5-h interactive training, grounded in adult learning and project-based learning theories, and used curricula, case studies, and multimedia to guide the discussion and group work. Participants also completed an action plan to guide their current work. Cultural competency knowledge was assessed pre- and post-training and training satisfaction was assessed post-training. Among the 53 individuals who completed the training, average knowledge increased by 13.6%. The training was a success based on anecdotal and evaluation feedback. The majority of participants indicated that they would refer their colleagues to the training and apply what they learned in their work. Participants felt the training was meaningful, applicable to their work, and provided an opportunity to learn and engage with their peers. Becoming culturally competent is a process that should be supported through ongoing training to help build a strong communications and health educator workforce with expertise in developing culturally competent messages to meet their constituents’ needs.

Health Communication and Behavioural Practice towards Ending Hepatitis B Virus in Southwest Nigeria.

Responding to the international call for strategic information to understand viral hepatitis, this study investigated the health communication practice on hepatitis B virus in Southwest Nigeria. Existing studies on HBV in Nigeria have primarily concentrated on health practitioners and their patients while neglecting detailed empirical data on semiurban and urban demographic information. This study examines health communication channels as predictors of knowledge, attitude, and behavioural practices with an emphasis on three Southwest states (Lagos, Oyo, and Ogun) in Nigeria that have the highest prevalence rate of HBV. Data were gathered through a survey from a total of 600 respondents of Southwest Nigeria randomly selected through the multistage sampling technique. The hypotheses were tested with the use of multiple regression. The result reveals that health communication channels for hepatitis B virus management had a significant influence on knowledge (F = 12.708, Df = 581, P < 0.05, Sig. at 0.000), attitude (F = 3.430, Df = 581, P < 0.05, Sig. at 0.000), and preventive practices (F = 11.075, Df = 581, P < 0.05, Sig. at 0.000) of residents of Southwest Nigeria, respectively. The study concludes that health communication channels such as the television, Internet, radio, newspaper, and health workers positively influence the behavioural practices of residents of Southwest Nigeria. The study recommends the development of a nationwide communication system on HBV targeted at putting an end to the disease in line with the 2030 global elimination objective of Sustainable Development Goal 3.

“The flu… is a little more complicated than a cold”: Knowledge, beliefs, and practices related to influenza and influenza vaccination among at-risk populations and health professionals in Peru

BackgroundInfluenza is a major source of morbidity and mortality with an annual global attack rate estimated at 5–10% in adults and 20–30% in children. Influenza vaccination is the main strategy for reducing influenza-related morbidity and mortality. Like several other countries, Peru has low vaccination coverage, estimated at 25–50% among young children and older adults. Therefore, the study objective was to explore the knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and practices related to influenza vaccination among populations at higher risk for infection and/or complications and health professionals in Peru, and their perspectives on health communication channels. MethodsThis qualitative study was carried out in three cities. We held nine focus groups with pregnant and postpartum women, parents of young children, and older adults. We carried out 25 in-depth interviews with health professionals (HPs) working in, leading or advising immunization-related programs. ResultsHPs correctly identified the causes of influenza and HPs and at risk community members identified major symptoms. Community members had poor awareness of the potential severity of influenza and were generally unaware of influenza-related mortality. Both HPs and community members greatly underestimated the prevalence of influenza in Peru. HPs in our study overestimated major side effects of the influenza vaccine and community members perceived that the vaccine caused illness. HPs missed important opportunities to promote vaccination in patients with minor illness (runny nose, allergies, colds) and community members did not understand that the vaccine should be received annually. ConclusionsThere is no single strategy that will increase influenza vaccination rates to World Health Organization recommended levels. Instead, it requires multi-faceted commitment from HPs, other healthcare authorities and the government. Addressing important knowledge barriers, specifically negative views regarding the influenza vaccine and the severe morbidity and mortality associated with influenza illness, both in the community and especially among HPs, could have significant impacts.

Uncovering a Role for Electronic Personal Health Records in Reducing Disparities in Sexually Transmitted Infection Rates Among Students at a Predominantly African American University: Mixed-Methods Study.

BackgroundBlack youth continue to bear an overwhelming proportion of the United States sexually transmitted infection (STI) burden, including HIV. Several studies on web-based and mobile health (mHealth) STI interventions have focused on characterizing strategies to improve HIV-related prevention and treatment interventions, risk communication, and stigma among men who have sex with men (MSM), people who use substances, and adolescent populations. The Electronic Sexual Health Information Notification and Education (eSHINE) Study was an exploratory mixed-methods study among students at a historically black university exploring perceptions on facilitating STI testing conversations with partners using electronic personal health records (PHRs).ObjectiveThe purpose of this paper is to use eSHINE Study results to describe perceived impacts of electronic PHRs on facilitating STI testing discussions between sexual partners.MethodsSemistructured focus groups and individual in-depth interviews were conducted on a heterogeneous sample of students (n=35) between May and July 2014. Qualitative phase findings guided development of an online survey instrument for quantitative phase data collection. Online surveys were conducted using a convenience sample of students (n=354) between January and May 2015. Online survey items collected demographic information, sexual behaviors, beliefs and practices surrounding STI testing communication between partners, and beliefs about the impact of electronic PHR access on facilitating these discussions with partners. Chi-square analysis was performed to assess gender differences across quantitative measures. A Wilcoxon signed rank sum test was used to test the null hypothesis that electronic PHRs are believed to have no effect on the timing of dyadic STI health communication.ResultsParticipants described multiple individual and dyadic-level factors that inhibit initiating discussions about STI testing and test results with partners. Electronic PHRs were believed to improve ability to initiate conversations and confidence in STI screening information shared by partners. Among online survey participants, men were more likely to believe electronic PHRs make it easier to facilitate STI talks with potential partners (59.9% vs 51.9%; χ2=3.93, P=.05). The Wilcoxon signed-rank test results indicate significant increases in perceived discussion timing before sex with electronic PHR access (61.0% vs 40.4%; P<.001).ConclusionsFindings suggest that electronic PHR access in STI screening settings among similar populations of Black youth may improve both motivation and personal agency for initiating dyadic STI health communication. Results from this study will likely inform novel interventions that use access to electronic PHRs to stimulate important health-related discussions between sexual partners. Moving forward requires studying strategies for implementing interventions that leverage electronic PHRs to create new sexual health communication channels with providers, peers, and family among black youth.

Perceptions About Disseminating Health Information Among Mommy Bloggers: Quantitative Study.

BackgroundSocial media are potentially powerful channels for communicating relevant health information in culturally sensitive and influential ways to key audiences. Moreover, these channels hold promise for promoting awareness and knowledge of health risks, prevention, and treatment by utilizing opinion leaders for message dissemination. Despite limited empirical evidence to-date, early promising results suggest that blogs are a form of social media that should be examined as worthy channels for health communication.ObjectivesThis formative study explored mommy bloggers’ perceptions about sharing health-related information on their blogs with their readers. It also sought to analyze which topics would be of most interest to mommy bloggers, what motivates them to write about health issues, and how they perceive interest in these topics among their readers.MethodsThis study employed survey methodology, including the use of open-ended questions, the responses to which were coded for analysis. Specifically, a 14-item survey was fielded with mommy bloggers between October 1 and October 28, 2016. Bloggers were recruited through The Motherhood network. A total of 461 mommy bloggers responded to the survey; 163 were removed for low quality responses and incomplete data. As a result, 298 eligible participants completed the survey. For open-ended questions in the survey, a sample of responses were coded and analyzed.ResultsThe majority of the respondents (87.2%, 260/298) reported that they have written about health issues in the past; 97.3% (290/298) of the respondents reported that they would consider writing about health issues sometime in the future, and 96.3% (287/298) of the respondents reported that their readers like to read about health issues on their blogs. In terms of content priorities for this sample of bloggers, Nutrition and Physical Activity dominate the current conversation and similarly, Physical Activity and Nutrition remain top content priorities for these bloggers for the future. Moreover, 21.3% of the respondents reported that their readers would be interested in these topics. Finally, having a personal connection with a health issue was found to be positively associated with likeliness to write about health issues on their blog (P<.001).ConclusionsThis study illustrates that there are potentially rich opportunities for working with mommy bloggers to communicate with key health decision makers (moms) on important health issues. There is a great support among mommy bloggers for health information dissemination as well as interest for accessing relevant health information from their readers. This presents an opportunity for public health research and communication campaigns to more broadly promote their messages, thereby contributing to their behavior change objectives. Limitations included overrepresentation of white, higher-educated, and younger women. It suggests a need for more targeted engagement of a diverse sample for future work.

An Experimental Test of the Two-Dimensional Theory of Cultural Sensitivity in Health Communication

Based on a theoretical framework describing culturally sensitive (CS) health communication, this experiment tested the relative contributions of surface structure and deep structure in the recall of oral health information from pamphlets varied in written message and images. Using a 2 × 2 factorial design, Spanish-speaking Mexican heritage mothers of children under six (n = 160) were randomly assigned to read one of four 12-page pamphlets containing the same oral health information in Spanish: (1) standard written message/standard images; (2) standard written message/CS images; (3) CS written message/standard images; and (4) CS written message/CS images. Participants completed a 22-item oral health knowledge questionnaire before and after reading the pamphlet. Controlling for the effects of pretest scores, acculturation, and educational level on information recall, findings showed significant positive main effects for CS images (F(1, 152) = 5.03, p = .026, partial ŋ2 = .032) and CS written message (F(1, 152) = 5.21, p = .024, partial ŋ2 = .033). There was no interaction. These results support the two dimensions of CS and their independent effects. They should be applicable to a variety of health communication channels. Further research is needed to investigate the causal mechanism behind the observed effects.