Health Communication
Course Goals
(As provided by American University course HLTH 641 Health Communication)
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Provide students with foundational knowledge about effective health communication skills from the micro- to the macro- level.
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Develop key oral and writing skills for communicating health messages.
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Become proficient in the basic concepts of the helping model.
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Encourage students to engage in further exploration of health communication issues that are of particular interest to them.
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Become familiar with the elements necessary for effective social marketing campaigns.
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Provide opportunities for collaboration and investigation in an online environment.
Artifacts
Click on each apple for more…
Social Marketing Capstone Project
Snack Smart Infographic
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Legislative Leave Behind Call and Response Back
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Reflection
Our Professor asked us to list both effective and ineffective motivators to two scenarios that we read and then asked us a few questions to respond to. This is an abbreviated version so the scenarios were left out.
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Page 4 of the Menu of Options (MOO) for Motivational Interviewing provides lists of effective and ineffective motivators for encouraging behavior change in health coaching. How do the two lists you created compare to the motivators in this document?
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Given what you’ve learned from your own experiences, what would you recommend when working with another person to assist them in making healthy changes?
Effective Motivators: Patient, empathetic, active listener, encouraging, non-confrontational, plated seeds, worked with me by my beliefs, supportive, built a relationship
Ineffective Motivators: Non-empathetic, not actively listening, abrasive tone, impatient, not supportive, communication was minimal about the topic and no “real” conversation was had
The Menu of Options (MOO Guide) from the University of San Diego’s Psychology Department was used to compare the effective vs. ineffective motivators of change from my list to theirs. Starting with effective motivators, there were several that were similar, they are: listened-respected my point of view, helped me find options, open minded, patient, supportive, encouraging, genuine, kind, non-judgmental and honest. As far as the ineffective motivators, the ones that best matched my list were the following: authoritarian, no empathy (unwilling to understand), bossy, moody, angry, talked a lot and listened very little.
When making any change, it is best that the participant and the coach, who will motivate the client and elicit behavior change, develop a supportive partnership; if the supportive atmosphere is not present, then the change will be less likely to occur (Cotter, E. 2019). From the start of the conversation there needs to be an underlying knowledge that the client (patient, family friend, spouse, child) does most of the work and that they take the responsibility for making the change with no judgment from you (Cotter, E. 2019). This is very challenging, especially if you have a pre-existing relationship; it is strongly encouraged to coach in situations where there is no bias.
Being a teacher for the last twenty-one years, I have used many aspects of motivational interviewing to assist my students with overcoming many academic and behavioral challenges. My students are my best means of evaluation and feedback, and they would like to see, from all teachers, the following key supports that would allow for successful behavior change such as respect, genuineness, active listening, communicating with them more effectively and on a student-teacher level, building a relationship. This feedback from my students is invaluable and many components, if not all, may also be used for motivational interviewing. What it boils down to, is building a relationship with each and everyone you coach and provide then a safe environment when speaking with you; not until then will they begin the journey to successful behavior change which will increase their self efficacy, resolving their ambivalence to change (Huffman, M.H. 2010).
References
Huffman, M.H., (2010). Health coaching: A fresh approach for improving health outcomes and reducing costs. AAOHN Journal, 58(6). doi: 103928/08910162-20100526-02
University of California San Diego. School of Medicine, Department of Psychology. (2009, April). Menu of options for motivational interviewing exercises [PDF file]. Retrieved from https://engage.american.edu/learn/pluginfile.php/358039/mod_page/content/12/WK7_MOO.pdf