Theories and Models as Vehicles for Health Communication and Promotion in Contemporary Nigeria

Abstract

Human communication is about producing and exchanging information and meaning using signs and symbols. Health communication is the study and practice of communicating promotional health information such as in public health campaigns, health education, between doctor and patient. The purpose of spreading the health information is to influence personal health choices by improving health literacy. Communication category includes intrapersonal, interpersonal, organizational community and public/mass media. Communication for health promotion composes of complex processes including information encoding, transmitting and receiving (decoding) as well as synthesizing meaning. Key dimensions of communication include the sender, the message, the channel and the receiver. Three theories were used to illustrate the importance of the use of theories in communication for health promotion which include; Bandura Social Learning Theory, the Trans-theoretical Model and health belief model. Conclusion was made that for any change in behaviour, there is a high need for proper health communication for health promotion either through mass media or public service announcement but most importantly researchers need to use theories for better communication in health promotion. It was recommended that theories and models should be frequently used in the area of health education.