Working from home is now crucial to our survival because of the pandemic. Thanks to the Internet, we can now digitalize our jobs or get paid for online gigs without leaving the house. One type of work that can be done remotely is health communication. The US Department of Health & Human Services defines health communication as the use of different communication strategies for influencing actions that will enhance people’s well-being.
According to the book, Making Health Communication Programs Work, health communication specialists tailor messages that can empower individuals, groups, organizations, and societies to stay healthy. They use methods such as media literacy education, media advocacy, advertising, education entertainment, individual and group instruction, and partnership development.
Communication programs can be costly, so health communication specialists can’t pick a method on a whim. The US Department of Health & Human Services proposes a 4-step health communication process for making a campaign successful. First, health communication specialists must engage in consumer research to identify audiences and develop plans for customizing messages to them. Second, they must develop and pretest ideas for a health communication campaign. Third, they must implement the communication program while periodically subjecting it to a process evaluation. Fourth, they must assess if the program’s goals have been achieved so they can make the necessary changes.
Health communication about quarantine protocols is one aspect of the COVID-19 response that needs much improvement. People with high health literacy know what they don’t know, so they search for infographics and contact their healthcare providers when they suspect that they need to be isolated. The algorithm for containing COVID-19 is more complex compared to other infectious diseases. Hence, health communication plays a vital role in addressing it.
For example, you know right away that you must stay at home if you have chickenpox because the symptoms are quite vexing. People will also keep their distance immediately when they see your blisters. Then your school or workplace will require a clearance from your doctor before you can resume your duties. It’s that simple.
On the other hand, COVID-19 gets dismissed because many who are infected have mild symptoms. Certain studies also show that asymptomatic carriers can transmit the virus to patients who might suffer more severely. These entail different processes for quarantining and testing if you’re a suspected case, a confirmed case, or if you had a close contact with either. You have to count the days from when you had contact with a confirmed or suspected case, and count the number of days from when you first experienced the symptoms. Then you have to make arrangements for testing, medical consultations, and hospital admissions. And then you have to count the number of quarantine days if you or your loved one tested positive before you can undergo re-assessment, etc. We even had different definitions for “close contact”, “suspected case”, “enclosed space”, and other pandemic-related words at some point. It can be very confusing, especially for those with low health literacy.
As a health communication specialist, you need to make all those terms and processes clearer to the public. You must therefore have an in-depth understanding of your audience, especially the level of their health literacy. You can’t just dismiss them as pasaway. Otherwise, you won’t craft a message that empowers them to follow health protocols. When they don’t comply due to confusion, they endanger themselves and the people around them.
So are you interested in this career? Check out the sample job descriptions linked below for more more information about a health communication specialist’s duties and salaries.
(Photo by the United Nations COVID-19 Response)
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