COMMUNICATION for HEALTH EDUCATION

This is a video lecture on the topic of "HEALTH EDUCATION & COMMUNICATION" from the PARK TEXTBOOK of COMMUNITY MEDICINE.

Hi............welcome to abmbbs.........today's topic is “Health Education & Communication”.....This video is based on the “ COMMUNICATION for HEALTH EDUCATION” chapter from the PARK textbook of Community Medicine........

so.....what is communication??....Communication is a 2 way process of exchanging ideas between 2 people.......this... is the communication process....the sender.....sends the message....via the channel ...to the receiver......the receiver can also send a feedback to the sender...then what is this channel thing?.....channels of communication are the media of communication between 2 individuals....

so.. what are the different channels of communication?.....1st is INTERPERSONAL communication.....it basically means talking face to face...it is the most common means of communication & is the most persuasive.....

2nd is MASS communication....like TV....radio...print media....it can reach a large population in a short time...but..is not much effective in changing established modes of behaviour....

Finally there's the FOLK media....these are traditional folk dances & songs that are common in the rural areas.....its called by different names in different parts of India....like NAUTANKI in Uttar Pradesh....BURRAKATHA in Andhra Pradesh & HARIKATHA in Western India.....

What are the types of Communication ??....it can be 1 way or DIDACTIC.....or....it can be 2 way or SOCRATIC.....in 1 way communication... there's less participation from the audience & there's no mechanism of feedback....so its less effective in changing established behaviour....2 way communication is much better in this regard...

What are the BARRIERS of Communication?? ….it can be Psychological Barrier...like when someone is sad....it can be Physiological Barrier.....like when someone is deaf.....it can be Environmental Barrier....like when there's too much noise in the surrounding...Finally there are Cultural Barriers....like when a person is illiterate....

This brings us to the end of the Communication part of the chapter....now we come to Health Education...

….so...what are the different approaches to Health Education?...1st is the REGULATORY approach....in which people are forced to act in a certain way by making laws.....it is the fastest way to bring about any change …..but.... it can be disastrous if people do not like it...particularly in a democracy like India....typical example was the Sterilization Campaign of 1976 which resulted in the defeat of the congress in the 1977 elections...

Next is the SERVICE Approach.....in this approach all the necessary services are given to the people at their door step..... & ...it is asssumed that people will use them on their own......but this approach failed too …..because it was not based on the felt-needs of the people....People will not use a product unless they feel they need it....even if they are given free....typical example is the WATER SEAL Latrines.....people in the rural areas did not use it even when they were provided free by the government.....

Next there's the Health Education Approach...in which its believed that people will take care of themselves if they know whats good & whats bad for them....this approach has met with some success in the west where the literacy levels are higher....but in India ,its useless....
Finally there's the Primary Health Care Approach....I have discussed it in detail in another video....the link is available here......