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ABSTRACT
Visual communication is a innovative mass health education strategy which essentially enhance learning and comprehension. The
communication is visualized for shaping ideas and changing attitudes and modifying behaviors towards healthful lifestyles
desired for health promotion. Literacy level of Indian population is low so is the health literacy so by visual effective
communication learning is driven for more lasting and productive direction.
ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER
Medical Science
EFFECTIVENESS OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION TO
COMPREHEND HEALTH EDU CATION A RATIONAL
APPROACH
KEY WORDS: Visual
communication, mass approach,
health education.
INTRODUCTION
Communication can be regarded as a process of exchanging of
shaping ideas, f eel ing s and information. Communication
strategies essentially enhances learning. Ultimate aim of all
communication is to bring about a change in thought process in
desired direction. This may be at the cognitive level by increasing
knowledge, affective by changing the pattern of behavior and
attitudes; or psychomotor in terms of a acquiring new skills. These
are referred to as learning objective communication design as a
distinct discipline from other forms of visual arts, the purposes,
approaches and role of visual communication in our everyday life is
visualized so it becomes self explanatory for individuals of all levels
[1]
of understanding . It explores the different levels on which a piece
of visual communication could be viewed and read, through
analyzing of sender and receiver processes. visual communication
that has a purpose or objective, created with the intention of
[2]
reaching to a predetermined 'audience' or 'user' . In the
devel opment of newer method s o f commu nicatio n and
information explosion, the mental development has expanded
considerably for clearer thinking and better inter-sectorial
coordination.
The tell-tale sign of whether something is art or design. It has to do
with its purpose and the context of use. 'Art' in the traditional
sense is more expressive, with less concern about the audience and
more focus upon the 'self', while design has more to do with
't ar geted ' co mm unica ti on, with m ore effor ts s pe nt i n
comprehending the audience or user. But again 'functional',
'purposeful' and 'targeted' are perhaps the key terms that
[2]
distinguish 'art' from 'design' .
Visual communication used to be called 'graphic design' until quite
recently. With the emergence of new media beyond printed
ma tte rs , te rms lik e 'c omm un ica ti on de si gn' or 'v isual
communication' became popular in order to reconnect the
increasing complexity of the understanding, and rightly puts the
[3]
focus in the core of the visual communication .
'To design is much more than simply to assemble, to order, or even
to edit; t is to add value and meaning, to illuminate, to simplify, to
clarify, to modify,to dignify, to dramatize, to persuade, and
perhaps even to amuse. To design is to transform prose into
poetry. Design broadens perception, magnifies experience, and
enhances vision. Design is the product of feeling and awareness, of
ideas that originate in the mind of the designer and culminate, one
hopes, in the mind of the spectator.' Paul Rand, Design form and
chaos, 1993
APPROACHES TO VISUAL COMMUNICATION
Depending on the comprehension some take a more analytical
approach, some more conceptual, some expressive. Like brand
identity designing, illustrations, information design, publication
design, advertising and promotion designing, motion and
animated designing. In the country like India where the literacy
rate is so low and more than three fourth population is residing in
rural fragments with bare minimum amenities and health facilities.
The quality of living is on a lower segment. In Indian scenario
keeping all constraints, in mind like illiteracy, unawareness and
poverty, easy and impactful communication methodology is ideal.
This is an attempt to conceptualize healthy practices and life styles
for healthful living by designing the visual communication.
Evidence based health practices are conveyed in the simple and
tradition manner so that local masses easily comprehend.
Designers in fact take detours: they begin with a design problem,
gather facts (research) and then try to come up with as many
possible solutions to this problem as they can. This is called
'divergent thinking'. Many methods could be used, for example
mind-mapping, sketching, photography, collage, etc. At this stage
the designer should not be too critical about what they produce.
Once a lot of ideas are generated, the designer would then have to
chose the most appropriate, effective, or innovative solution to the
problem. So this could be the ideal methodology for health
Education effectively a nd efficiently . By in culcating basic
perspective for helpful understanding
Recent research has shown that patients recurrently experience
difficul ti es unde rs ta nding h ealth-relev an t concept s. The
interpretation of health-related risk information not only requires
advanced knowledge but also language proficiency. Thus, another
factor that can significantly affect accuracy in the understanding of
treatment risk reduction is patients' proficiency in the language in
[4]
which risk information is communicated .
Future work should directly aim to trace attentional and cognitive
processes underlying the effect of visual aids, including icon arrays
and also other kinds of displays. This is an essential step in efforts to
facilitate the development of psychologically sensitive training
methods that enhance the understanding of quantitative medical
information for disadvantaged individuals. Ultimately, the studies
outlined above emphasize the importance and value of working
Dr. Vrinda Saxena
Professor and HOD , Dept of Public Health Dentistry, Government Dental College ,
Indore
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1
Dr. Naveen S
Yadav*
Professor and HOD , Dept of Prosthodontics , Peoples Dental Academy, Bhopal
*Corresponding Author
Shreya Yadav
rd
3 year B.Des student , Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara
PARIPEX - INDIAN JOURNAL OF RESEARCH Volume-8 | Issue-3 | March-2019 | ISSN - 2250-1991 | IC Value : 86.18
Dr. Swapnil Jain
Reader, Dept of Public Health Dentistry , Peoples Dental Academy, Bhopal
Dr. Vijayta Sharva
Reader, Dept of Public Health Dentistry , Peoples Dental Academy, Bhopal
Dr. Swati Agrawal
st
1 year Postgraduate student , Dept of Public Health Dentistry , Peoples Dental
Academy, Bhopal
towards the development of custom- tailored risk communication
interventions that are sensitive to the various needs and abilities of
diverse individuals who must make potentially life altering
[4][5],[6],[7],[8],[9],[10]
pronouncements .
Communication creates implication to any evidence or message
specified. Health education is assigning or giving information,
persuading, influencing or warning individuals about risky
behavior and life styles inclusive of environmental changes which
may have direct or indirect implication on health. According to
Achalu , Health communication is an art and technique of
enlightening inspiring motivating individual or groups about
[11]
imperative health issues .
Furthermore, in Ratzan Health communication encompasses the
study and use of communication strategies to inform and
influence Individual and community decisions that enhance
[12]
health .
Nsel and Roth viewed wellness as optimal health and vitality,
enc omp assing, physical, emoti ona l, Int ellectual, spirit ual,
[13]
interpersonal and social and environmental well- being .
HEALTH COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES
Evidence dissemination methods makes use of variety of media to
offer information to the public about the jeopardy of a specific
lifestyle, adoptions and individual conduct as well as the benefits
of swapping that behavior and refining the quality of life. Whilst
conveying information, it is important to uphold reliability in the
aesthetic manifestation, linguistics style, character and massage.
Amongst them are: Noar, Benac and Harris explained some health
communication strategies embrace awareness promotions,
entertainment advocacy, media advocacy, new technologies and
[14]
inter personal communication .
Health communication campaign unswervingly delivers education
to people who are anticipated to implement or transformation to a
[15]
healthier behaviour. . Furthermore, Rural Health Information
Hub expressed that effective Health information communication
strategies include; use of Research Based Strategies probing
peoples, culture, and languages and literacy acceptance on
priorities to intricate and deliberate literacy to acknowledge health
literacy. That is to comprehend if the people are erudite about the
risky behavior and life-styles . Situation analysis of demography
laterally geo mapping too is an imperative step to ascertain
[16]
communication modality .
TRADITIONAL AND RURAL BASED COMMUNICATION
Traditional and rural based communication is clearly designed to
address th e peculiar of the rural develo pers. Before the
proliferation of modern technologies, communities devised their
own strategies of communicating among themselves as well as in
this era of media propagation and advanced technology for
communication.
It is however, important to note that some of these rural
communities have evolved in terms of embracing certain aspect of
modern media for community mobilization for health campaign.
Example is children immunization, political sensitization and
others. Examples of traditional communication are town crier, age
grade meetings and many more.
Town crier: The town crier is a significant village "broad caster"
who summons villagers or decision maker on issues concerning the
community." Even in the modern times, town crier plays a pivot
[17],[18]
role in health advocacy and sensitization .
Age grade/gender meeting: It is another effective approach
utilized to spread community on health related issues. Various
groups have specific days/ months for meeting and can therefore
create an avenue for health educator to furnish and convey health
[17]
related messages .
BROADCAST MEDIA TOOLS (RADIO AND TELEVISION)
Broadcast media is used to capture wide audience within a defined
time frame. Broadcasting is transmission of audio and video
messages via electro-magnetic waves to reach millions of homes
almost the same time. It is the most expedient means to transmit
information immediately to the widest possible audience. The
broadcast consist of the television and the radio media channels
and both have been effective in carrying successful health
campaign. Radio programmers are less expensive than most
television program and so a great choice for low cost budget.
Unlike Television, most radio stations are mobile and are designed
to gauge audience response.Television has a wide geographic
coverage and broad audience reach. It records success for
promoting health campaign and health advocacy messages.
Newsletter/journals: These are great way of creating awareness on
health related issues. Newsletters are printed report containing
information of activities or health problems and are sent by mails.
[17]
They are always to be referred to in case of any doubt .
Bill boards/posters: They cover a great population. They serve as a
great medium to cover health message. Messages on bill
boards/posters give audience the opportunity to reach target
[18][19]
audience on the move .
Social media/internet: The internet has brought us several new
main st r eam commu ni catio n t o o l s a n d c h a nged the
communication landscape. It is described as the communication
revolution; intern ets have sa ved us time in creation and
development of messages. Examples are e-mail, SMS, instant
messaging (yahoo, MSN messages), video conferencing, face
[17]
book, whatsapp, twitter and others (Merrian-webster.com) .
BENEFITS OF HEALTH COMMUNICATION
Health communication prevents and sustains healthy behaviour
and makes individuals feel at ease and improvising the learning
outcome by manifolds. The utilization of behaviour change
communication is achieved by awareness about basic healthy tips,
motivates individuals to seek services and help them to successfully
[18]
adapt on methods of choice . However Centre for Disease
Control stated that health communication increases audience
knowledge awareness of any health related issues. Health
communication demonstrates the benefits of behaviour changes
to public health outcomes. It advocates a position on a health
issues or policy. Health communication causes increase demand
and s up po rt for he al th services a s we ll as r em ov al of
[17]
misconceptions on health related issues .
BARRIERS OF EFFECTIVE HEALTH COMMUNICATION
Low health literacy
There may be difficulty in understanding the message hence;
[17]
literature should be used for impact on of knowledge .
Poor communication link
Hospitals are made up of different ethnic groups with socio-
cultural differences, languages, religion and economic differences,
thus communica on link between the health workers and the
communites.
Poor research
The developing countries find it difficult to carry out research.
Therefore, to design, develop and implement health programmes
becomes difficult.
Some barriers of health communications as identified by Achalu
are listed as follows:Wrong person sending messages. Lack of
receivers.Unclear messages. Inappropriate channel. Inadequate
[11]
feedback and noise distorting the message .
As for many behaviours that distress health, high-quality studies
confirmed that we can change the behaviour of people through
specific interventions of information and health education. In this
context, the role of media effective tool of visual communication is
fundamental ; It wo ul d be, t he re fo re, d es ir ab le fo r the
professionals of health and information to work together to
rethink and revie w the fundame ntal princ iples of health
promotion.
2
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As for the contents of such an information, disease takes
precedence over the sick person as individual, meaning that
technical-scientific information prevails on psychological aspects.
In fact, we rarely talk about fear, anxiety, sense of isolation or
problems related to the relationship between doctor and patient,
all elements strictly connected with serious pathologies.
Anyway, language tends to be simpler and more comprehensible
both in print and television, radio and internet; the media try to
treat a few central arguments in support of the subjects treated.
Best conveyed through vision -graphic communication strategy As
far as the subjects are concerned, the area of research and new
technologies prevails on assistance and health services. There are
many services on prevention and arrangements for their practical
[11]
implementation .
The n, the st ate of he alth c ommunicatio n i s clos er to a
dissemination of knowledge and skills, more than a form of
education and promotion of correct behaviours. Much more could
be done to improve this aspect of health communication, in front
of the new and growing awareness of the patient and health
responsibility and his personal commitment in prevention,
[20]
improving his level of health .
Communication is a very important priority for the effectiveness of
information, prevention and awareness campaigns in the area of
public responsibility about health education and health promotion
[21]
of the individual and the whole community . Also we feel an
increasing demand of our society for an accurate information
about health and wellness in general from a side, and from the
other an increasing owe of information coming from different
sources, sometimes of uncertain scientific level, which risk to rise
[13]
false alarms and unwarranted fears .
Health institutions have to answer many demands about the
complex issue of health, requiring an educational and information
effort, with the risk of be in g l os t i n many streams of
communication.
The National Health Programme should promote an adequate
communication between users, health professionals, citizens and
services and raise awareness throughout the community on issues
pertaining the relationships between health and environment,
food safety, drug addiction and all forms of health protection, as
well as ensuring fairness and quality, strengthen healthy lifestyles,
implementing control systems on user satisfaction, provide
information tools to avoid the dangers and risks.
All that puts in evidence the need to change the institutional
communication approach talking about health care and health
system from an ethic point of view. Health information must be
considered a value that enriches the society and helps to improve
heath care and the health system which are common property and
[20]
belong to the whole society .
THE ROLE OF INFORMATION IN THE HEALTH EDUCATION
INTERVENTIONS
Health promotion involves the construction of ways to provide
scientific information, both to encourage the individuals toward
the motivational basis for developing non-risky behaviours and to
modify the existing ones.
Therefore, preventive strategies must include health education
through information and educational campaigns that can reach the
entire population with general information. But they should include
interventions of personalized information to promote the
modification of risk behaviours and the adoption of adequate living
styles, implemented within a relationship of professional help to put
[12][13]
an emphasis on individual cultural and social features .
Health communication should be in co-operated in the curriculum
of all leve ls o f h e a l th i nstit ut i ons t o e quip healt h
educators/providers with adequate knowledge concerning
com muni catio n s o n h e alth re late d i ssue s. Diff erent
communication tools are open used as part of an excessive
communication plans and must serve its purpose. The strategic or
plans adopted should be skillful to bring about positive change in
behaviour. Skillful strategies adopted in communication opens
way for proper understanding of health issues that features the
people and calls for behavioural change. Health education which
aims at bringing Change in health behaviour must be tailored to
the specific type of communication and tools that makes the
[17]
outmost sense to the target audience . Therefore, Beato, Richrdo
and Jana explained that improving health literacy is achieved by
disseminating health information that influences personal health
choices. The promotion, maintenance and restoration of health
[22] .
require community health related information
Health communication serves as the medium that is used to create
awareness to the individual clusters and communities on health
related concerns. Health promotion provides knowledge, skills and
capacity to assist individuals, groups and communities in
identifying health needs, obtaining information and resources and
mobilizing them to achieve change. However, WHO de ned
health promotion as the process of enabling people to increase
[23]
control over and to improve their health .urnal of Medical
Research and Heal
CONCLUSION
Behavioural change is a difficult task to achieve. Hence factual
information should be designed to motivate people achieve
change in behaviour. Healthy behaviour such basic hygiene,
Environment sanitation, aexercise, good nutrition, healthy sexual
practices, avoiding of substance (alcohol, drug, cigare es) abuse,
routine medical check among others are practices that promote
good health (well-being).
Health promotion supports personal and society development by
affo rding evidence which progresses health and enhance
wellbeing. Communication on g enerates me aning to any
information given. Changing an previously existing behavior is very
challenging. However , with effective communication and
solicitation of effective strategies in a predetermined and intensive
approach behavioral change could be achieved. Therefore, this
paper expunges some of the strategies adopted by the health
educator to influence people and bring about behavioral
transformation encouragingly. Benefits of health communication
include increasing audiences' knowledge and awareness on health
related issues and its advocacy for health issue and policies were
identified. Also barriers such as low health literacy and poor
communications were identified. Amalgamation of tradition
communication methodologies along with visual communication
can bring about a revolutionary adoption It was concluded that
health communications contribute to all aspects of disease
prevention and health promotion. Hence, the recommendation is
that health communication should be included in all levels of
health's curriculum to enable health educators acquire better skill
to promote health and improve well-being.
ETHICAL CLEARENCE :
Ethical clearence has been obtained by Institutional Ethical
Clearence Committe.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST :
None
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