Summary of Study Session 8

In Study Session 8 you have learned that:

1. Communication has five components the sender, the message, the channel, the receiver and the feedback.
2. The sender is the originator of the messages. The receiver or audience is the person or group who receives the message.
3. The message is a piece of information or ideas, facts and opinions that are passed from the sender to the receiver.
4. The term ‘appeals’ refers to a situation when the content of the message is organised in ways to persuade or convince the receiver.
5. The communication process is the whole sequence of transmission and interchange of facts, ideas or feelings.
6. In health education and health promotion you communicate for a special purpose — to promote improvement or changes in health through the modification of the factors that influence health-related behaviour (Figure 8.9).
7. To achieve your objectives, successful health communication must pass through certain stages: reaching the audience, gaining attention, being understood, being accepted, changing behaviour, and improving health.

Figure 8.9  Some health messages can be clearly put across in a single poster. (Photo: Tom Heller)