Fear-Based Approaches, Research Paper Example

Fear-Based should Positive-Based Approaches Be Used In Health Intervention Communications to Illicit Behavior Change

Introduction

Health intervention communication are ways and means of conveying a message to individuals that may comprise of a community, society or an entire region with a main purpose of informing them the importance of good health maintenance and the risks they are most likely to be exposed to if proper and informative measures towards their health are not well taken care of (Albarracin, et al, 2005). As time goes, everyone is being faced by a great challenge concerning his or her health status as this plays a very great role to one’s daily activities and undertakings of life. Poor health facing a person in day to day life means a very great reduction of ones productivity of which that leads to a number of effects, losses and may be serious inconveniences to the person or individuals who depend on his or her strength.

Therefore good and very informative ways of health intervention must always be used in the process or while exercising health matters. This is because the society is facing a great challenge in their health status ranging from lack of good and most modern facilities to cater for their health matters, escalating costs of treatment that many individuals are not able to bear due to harsh economical situations and status, the other challenge facing the societies health matters is lack of good and well informative guidelines to enable them decide on what step to take or undergo to heal or control any health problem they are undergoing and therefore leading them to a very greater exposure of deteriorating health situation which ends up to a point that poses a great health risk that could even be in such a situation that is very hard to control and prevent (Williams, et al,1999).

As we all know individuals and the societies have all either tried or become diverse in every way possible to them, this has greatly contributed to greater health differences as this change is accompanied by different behavioral changes that leads to individuals or society to the point of exercising some of the dangerous and unchecked methods of maintaining their health to a point of great standard. Still the health welfare of society and individuals is in a very wide and complicated way affected by the social, economic and political forces(Umphrey, & Sherblom, 2007). These forces should in one way or the other be addressed and be well catered for from all the concerned bodies and organizations to help safe and eradicate the risk that individuals and the societies are very much exposed to.

Informative  health communication through different approaches and techniques should be addressed to the society and the individuals in order to offer them a potentially important decisions to a better informed and presumably healthier population by focusing on the behavioral aspects of risk factors, such as diet, smoking, alcohol use, sedentary lifestyle, and sexual behavior (Singhal, & Rogers,1999).

The Role of Health Intervention Communication

The societies and individuals beliefs and behaviors should be in one way or the other considered with care and in great care to ensure that they are well modified and taken care of by trying to sort out and recognizing the potential of communication techniques that may range from verbal and nonverbal messages and hence leading to the modification of beliefs and behaviors of the society and the individuals in general.

Through many organizations and public health communities the issues of good health have not been left out and therefore they have ended up working together with communication and media experts with one general objective of developing mass media campaigns, importance and goodness of exercising change in health behavior. The society and the individuals should be offered well with materials. These materials may range from written materials that will enable the society or the individuals to read for themselves and understand articles that clearly address their health matters. The materials should be or be written as per the language that is well conversant to the society or individual on target to enable them read and comprehend the materials that are in writing and therefore become easier and simple to practice their health (Singhal, & Rogers,1999).

Since the majority of the society and individual are mostly likely to be in school or in a given place of work, good and informative programs concerning health matters should be introduced and developed by a group of qualified personnel to the schools and at work. This will in return boost the health concerns of the society and the individuals to greater heights. Every society or individual at one time or the other visits health care centers for a health purpose, therefore the providers of health  care should develop and deliver health care programs to the societies and individuals.

As we all know a campaign pays a large attention to the society and individuals hence attracting a quite number of them, therefore large-scale campaigns should be addressed and be well organized frequently and regularly to address the issue of health care and its importance to the society and individuals. The other advantages of communication techniques can be acquire across different cultural society through a comprehensive strategy capitalization on their similarities of beliefs and behaviors (Umphrey, & Sherblom, 2007). On the other hand, the communication intervention or delivery approach must be targeting a particular society or individual to have similar effects across society or individuals working towards the beliefs and values of the society or individual members to optimize the impact. In this consideration, it is of scrupulous policy attention to know whether targeting and working communication interventions is particularly useful in humanizing the health of society and individuals with historical or current health or health care disadvantages.

Thus, the question of the full advantage of unusual concentration in communication interventions to the society may depend on the goals of interventions and, exclusively, how much concentration should be focused on vulnerable societies or individuals. Communication   method and strategy used in implementing the societies and individual health matter should be modified in such a manner that it is efficient for different societies and individuals.

Positive and Fear Based Ways of Communication Intervention

Due to increased and related risks to health matters, the issue of exercising good health care and control measures should be addressed carefully and effectively without consideration whatsoever of the method used but the results obtained after full implementation of the method and whether the desired objective have been achieved or not to a given society or individual. These methods may range from positive interventions to fear based interventions that may in one way or the other cause or have a great change to the society or individual health behavior and practice. The two methods have different approaches to health situation as regarding to the nature and how serious or dangerous the situation is but at the end they should all have the same desired results to the society and individual which is a change in behavior and practice of health matters.

Positive Based Methods

These are the methods that are used to directly give a positive behavioral change to a health matter regarding of its situation and nature to the society and the individuals. These positive methods may either be behavioral that affects the society and individual on the manner they carry out and exercise health status, mentally which affects the nature of society or individual way of thinking or physically changes  that affects the way the society and the individual carries out their day to day activities.

A health risk indicates an increased worry to a society or an individual suffering from the health situation. Therefore it should be a mandatory exercise to carry out counseling in primary level to ensure that hope and courage is regained to the society and the individual suffering from the situation and therefore takes the situation as a start of a new kind of life and not as a point where life is deemed to becoming to an end hence restoring the society to a normal and usual way of life. Discouraging loneliness and division of society from unhealthy situation of a given society or individual is always conscious in the life we are undergoing today and should be well and carefully taken care of. This is because a journey to great and prospective health standards starts with the recognition of the circumstances in hand and trying to come up with effective ways and means of coping with it. The society and individuals should be advised and cautioned against taking isolation and separation to the affected society and individuals and instead love them and take care of them as one of their own.

Due to improved and effective ways of communication allover the world ranging from internet to media houses, advertisement and pressure to the goodness of proper health care should be given quite a reasonable time in these advertisements to lure the society and the individual to take the proper care measures and responsibilities pertaining to their behaviors concerning health matters and more so the appropriate measures to be undertaken.

As many of the health risks do arise in the bodies of societies and individuals due to the way they eat and the nature of the food they take. For a good functioning of our bodies it is in order to take always a diet that is well balanced and rich in all nutrients that are required by our bodies. Therefore communication interventions regarding the quality and nutrient standards of the food we take should always be put into consideration and more so the health standards of the environment where the food is to be prepared and taken care of to avoid any direct or indirect contamination to the food that may pose a health risk to the society or the individual in use of it. Good and health practices in society and individuals mean greater and improved health standards in return. This is a good evidence since no one likes being on the loosing side of life. If for example I practice careful and successful hygienic measures I create a very minimal room of being tainted by unhealthystandards and conditions. This in return will lure one or two member of the society or individual copying or desiring to practice the same and if the chain continues at the end we shall have greater and improved health standards to a greater part of the society or individuals in the situation and hence reducing the prevalence rate of unhealthy situations (Guilamo-Ramos, et al,2007).

If in any one way or the other a health problem is well revised and studied as to its root cause, this will lead to more informed ways of dealing with it and hence coming up with the latest and most modern ways of dealing with the situation. This in return would have a greater, positive and informative way of tackling the situation in hand since you would have all the necessary and sufficient information as to what caused and why the unhealthy situation was caused and therefore reasonable decisions likely to be arrived at by the affected societies and individuals. For any good and better part something it is always better and advisable to put the first priority on achieving what is desired. This will not be left out to the ways and means of communicating the health measures to a society and individuals. Therefore it will be of great importance and more so to create an environment of positive thinking towards the society and the individuals concerning their health welfare as you prepare a communication strategy (Escobar, & Sweers, 2007). So all this means that it’s an obligation of each society and individual to try and minimize the chances of being on the negative side of life by thinking and acting to given matters concerning their health welfare.

In these lives we are undergoing today it is always very hard for a society and individuals to work, act and go through all crucial matters pertaining to health concerns all alone. It is therefore important to generate a favorable environment for other members of the society to join in and work together with you. This will not only simplify things towards your health status but will also increase chances of identifying other health risks that may be developing in you earlier by the help of your colleagues. Positive communication should be addressed in seriousness in all levels of life despite the gender or age of the society and individuals concerning the drug taking and consumption which poses the greatest risk towards the health (Goldber, et al, 1991). For example positive thinking towards alcohol taking and smoking should be addressed comprehensively for the society and individuals to understand and evaluate beyond any reasonable doubts they are been exposed to while consuming the stuff.

Many of the health risks society and individuals face are too contributed by our living lifestyles and therefore positive intervention methods of communication should be addressed to ensure that this is well taken into consideration by the societies and the individuals. Therefore the positive interventions ways of communication I may say that they approaches the health situation in hand directly and therefore creating high chances of improved and effective ways of standard health to society and individuals undergoing through the problem(Guttman, & Salmon, 2004).

Fear Based Methods

These are the methods that are used to indirectly give a positive behavioral change to a health matter regardless of its situation and nature to the society and the individuals. These positive methods may either be behavioral that affects the society and individual on the manner they carry out and exercise health status, mentally which affects the nature of society or individual way of thinking or physically changes  that affects the way the society and the individual carries out their day to day activities. This fear based method of intervention to communication involves infringing a kind of worry to a society or an individual with an aim of changing their behaviors (Hovland, Janis, & Kelly, 1953). In most cases the fear based method seems in effective since the desired results are not always achieved due to the society or individuals becoming used or developing a kind of power of overcoming the fear situation.

An example of a power of overcoming fear is evidently seen in the case of the HIV and AIDS prevalence. It has always been campaigned in all forms of conveying messages that HIV and AIDS is a killer disease and ones infected with it no cure. Society and the individuals have heard it more than enough and have decided to take a deaf ear on this issue and hence gone on to having unsafe and unprotected sex before marriage and in marriage (Job, 1998). This has contributed to the increased number of HIV and AIDS cases in our societies and hence more deaths from the disease. Examples and proper methods of fear based intervention in communication are:-Society and individuals always stands in that chance of being awarded a free gift for something not done. Therefore a campaign to provide the society and individuals with free gifts should be done ones in a while and in the process become aware of what purpose the gifts are meant for in the health side of life. This for example is evidently seen in the campaign against malaria where the society and individuals are provided with free mosquito nets and treatments against them to lure them to take a great control of malaria (Harris, & Napper, 2005).

For the society and individuals to have greater and positive response towards any fear based method it should be onset before the desired behavior is reached upon on how to carry out the society and individual health matters. For example before the onset of long and heavy rains the societies and individuals should be well informed about great risks of flooding, water borne disease outbreaks and other health matters risk associated with the situation of long and heavy rains which should enable them to take decisive and informative choice regarding their health concerns in such a situation if it arises (Linkenbach, 2001).

For a fear based method to appear more effective, it should portray a high probability of occurrence to the society and the individuals on target. This should be evident if the society and individuals are convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that whatever is in place will or will have to happen at a given time. Being a health matter concerning the health of society and individuals, the fear based intervention method used should be accompanied by the appropriate behavior change or control measures towards the health matter of the society and the individual on target if in bad luck becomes infected or affected by the health problem(Glassner, 1999). Since no one desires to bear a fear that he or she cannot be able to bear its therefore necessary for the fear that have been infringed to be bearable to the society or individual who have been targeted.

That is the fear must not be of very much harm or causes any great inconveniences to the society or individuals concerned. Therefore the fear based methods of intervention in communication of health matters to society and individuals should be done as an effective force towards achieving the desired behavior change of a health situation. As I said earlier fear based methods are mostly likely to be unsuccessful due to the power of society and individuals to develop overcoming measures to arising status of health and therefore rendering it impossible to obtain and achieve the desired results of society and individual’s health (Escobar, & Sweers, 2007).

The researchers from the New York City decided to some analysis to find it is true that fear-based or positive-based approaches be used in health intervention communications to illicit behavior change. They based their minds on the psychological health, the beginning of the sexually transmitted diseases and the substance used which mostly they used the Crystal methamphetamine. They came into a conclusion as they saw that all the figures from the table reflected a Yes idea. The information possesses different kinds of this characteristics and qualities which at the end one out weighs the other and therefore can be termed as one of the appropriate and most effective method of intervening in the process of communication of health matters to a society or individuals in need of it (Eichelberger, 2007). From the evidences collected from the two different methods it is understandable that the best and most effective method of intervening health communication is the positive based method approach. This is because the method fully possesses the traits and characteristics that would be of the least risk to the society and individuals.

Conclusion

From the methods of the intervention of communication towards the general health of a society or individual discussed above it is good and well informed decision must always be made and reached as per to which proper method is to be used in the communication of health matters to the society and individuals. The nature and the method to be used also is clear that it should possess characteristics and good qualities that should not in any way all the other have any side effect or complications to the society or individuals implementing it despite of their environment conditions and the situations they are undergoing through Bettinger, et al 2007).

Lastly   the healthy of the society should be put on the front line and addressed in all possible means possible ranging from fear based to such as the positive based methods so long as better results that will lead to improved health will be achieved and hence a society and individuals who are at no risk of health crisis (Cho, & Salmon, 2007). Due to the information and the data provided, then the Fear-Based and Positive-Based Approaches should be used In Health Intervention Communications to Illicit behavior change.

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