Section 2. Communicating Information about Community Health and Development Issues

Your voice is one of the most powerful tools you possess. Regardless of the language you speak, sign, or write, what you communicate to others and the way you express your ideas is a reflection of your work, your dreams, and yourself. Clear, persuasive communication is vital to your success. What you say gives community members the knowledge to understand and work toward common goals. Strong communication skills can help move people from awareness to support to action. They are among the first tools you need to improve your community.

First, let's define some key terms:

Health is a state of well-being that includes the physical, mental, and social aspects of life. Health is not simply the absence of illness, and it is not limited to the individual; the concept of health extends to the community as a whole. Those in the field of community health and development work both to build the resilience and organizational capacities of people and to address community-level health concerns.

Consequences of community health and development issues can be divided into primary and secondary types. The differences between primary and secondary consequences can be understood according to how directly the issue affects people. Primary consequences affect people directly. For example, if an adolescent becomes pregnant, primary consequences include the outcome of the pregnancy and its effects on their future. Secondary consequences affect people less directly. In the pregnancy example, one secondary consequence could be the impact on the adolescent's friends, who may react differently to the situation.

Why is communicating the consequences of health and community development issues important?

To raise community awareness

Often, people are not aware of the extent of community problems. For instance, they might believe that their town water supply is safe, when in reality it contains an unacceptable level of contaminants. Residents cannot gather together to have an impact on an issue unless they understand it. This can actually be more complicated than it seems, because people often receive conflicting messages. For example, in the case of smoking, an individual may be told to cut back, try nicotine gum or patches, quit for the sake of their children, or simply take smoking outside. All of these messages can quickly become confusing and discouraging for someone unsure about the best path to take, decreasing the likelihood that any action will be taken at all. So, it is important for your organization to have a concise message that conveys the problem, shows how it affects people in the community, and describes useful actions to take.

To influence public opinion

Presenting a strong case for your position on an issue can move public opinion closer to your viewpoint. When it becomes clear that a problem is important, that it is not currently being addressed adequately, and that workable solutions are available, people may become more supportive of action. Some ways to do this are to establish your organization as a credible source of information, communicate the consequences of the issue you are focused on, and use the media.

To mobilize support and generate action

Once people understand the issue and how it affects them and their community, it is much easier to build support. If a large organization decided to tear down homes adjacent to its headquarters for parking lots, only those homeowners might initially be aware of the consequences unless an effort was made to inform the broader community. Once word spread, concerned community members from neighborhoods throughout the area could sign petitions and attend rallies. If communication reaches people in both rational and emotional ways, they may be more willing to become involved. Thus, an accurate and convincing portrayal of a community health issue can help generate the support necessary to create positive change.

To whom do I want to communicate?

Just about everyone may benefit from hearing your message, but unfortunately few organizations have the time or resources to reach every member of a community individually. Therefore, it makes sense to concentrate your efforts where they will have the greatest impact or, to use a cliché, to get the most bang for your buck. Some of the groups you might want to consider include:

Those most directly affected by the issue

With any health or community issue, some people are more significantly affected than others. Pregnancy among adolescents, for example, directly affects sexually active adolescents and those who may become pregnant. To reach this group, your message should be directed at adolescents specifically and tailored to the points they find most important on the topic. It is important to support this group in taking part in solutions within their own community. Often, community development messages are less successful when the people most affected by the problem do not feel that they have meaningful opportunities to influence their circumstances. A direct, empowering message to this group can make a real difference in a community development initiative.

Leaders of institutions

Almost all communities have core institutions, including schools, faith communities, businesses, service organizations, government, and the media. These institutions often hold considerable community influence. So with very few exceptions, it is a good idea to enlist the support of institutional leaders. Leaders from each of these sectors can help your organization advance its plan for community change, providing volunteers, time, resources, and ideas. The basic principle is that institutional leaders can help mobilize their constituencies through both formal and informal influence. Any institution that agrees to become involved in your work can become a tremendous asset. For example, if you are working to reduce substance use in high school, school leaders are a crucial component of your success. By allowing you to come in and educate students or conduct a survey on substance use, they can help your group reach its target audience.

Other community leaders

These people can be vital to creating significant change in the community because they often have strong relationships and influence within particular groups or neighborhoods. Community leaders can be found leading Sunday school at a local church, coaching a sports team, leading a neighborhood watch, running a local business, or taking action on a neighborhood issue. Bringing community leaders on board and helping them understand the importance of your issue increases the chance of support from the groups they represent. It also gives you a connection to the media, government, faith communities, businesses, schools, or whatever other institutions the leaders are linked to. It is striking how rapidly an effort can gain momentum at school once a respected student leader gets behind it. Community leaders should be considered an important part of efforts to spread a message through the community.

The community at large

Community problems can have widespread consequences for the neighborhoods and communities experiencing them. Even people who have never directly experienced a problem can benefit from understanding its consequences, both for those directly affected and for the community as a whole.

Another advantage of the entire community being aware of a problem is that this can mobilize support from sources that the catalyst organization may not think to contact directly. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) provides a good example. At one point, a chapter of MADD sent a mailing to an entire community that discussed the dangers of driving under the influence and encouraged people to designate a driver if someone in the group was drinking. They also distributed fliers and red ribbons at a professional football game. These were useful activities because they increased awareness among people in the area about what MADD does and brought greater attention to the issue of drinking and driving. MADD became a widely recognized name, demonstrating in part the power of including the broader community in awareness and advocacy efforts.

How do I go about it?

Obtain information about the priority populations

Before launching into a campaign to inform a community, it is crucial to understand how members within it view your issue. Much of the information you want to obtain about your community may be available in previously collected data, such as demographic information, political views, attitudes about a specific issue, and possible obstacles to your initiative's success. To efficiently obtain pre-existing information and collect your own data, it is important to create a plan for gathering it.

After reviewing existing sources, interviewing key informants is an effective way to gain knowledge about the community. If you are more interested in the perspectives that emerge when a small group of individuals gathers to discuss the issue, a focus group may be an appropriate research method.

Customize your message to each priority group

After learning about the level of knowledge, demographics, and opinions of the community members you would like to address, you may find that there are several specific groups you want to reach rather than one large audience. It is important to customize your message to each group to increase its effectiveness. For example, with pregnancy among adolescents, it may be important to include adolescent boys, adolescent girls, parents, teachers, and members of faith communities in an initiative designed to influence attitudes and behavior. Each group may require a somewhat different message focused on what that particular audience can do to reduce pregnancies among adolescents. Defining the different audiences you want to address and tailoring your campaign to each group are important steps before delivering your message to the community.

Get the message out

There are lots of ways to communicate information about the consequences of issues, many of which you are already familiar with. Some methods, such as word-of-mouth, are used every day. This approach can be extremely important for getting the message out because it is personal and can be tailored to the person receiving it. Often, a more formal method is also required to get the word out.

In any effort to communicate the consequences of health and development, the media can be a powerful tool, specifically media advocacy. Media advocacy is the use of media to help promote an organization's objectives. Using the media can be helpful for many reasons. Having your perspectives published, broadcast, or otherwise shared through local media can help establish your organization as a source of information on the issue. It can also bring the issue you are focusing on to greater public attention, which is important for any widespread effort. Trusted media sources can also help shape how people understand and discuss an issue, influencing the broader community debate.

Evaluate your efforts

After you have begun communicating information on your issue to the public, you should evaluate how effective your campaign has been and how it can improve in the future. By gathering information from influential community members, people directly affected by the issue, and different groups associated with the effort, you will be able to better inform the public and develop an improved campaign for the next major phase of your initiative.

In Summary

Communicating information on the consequences of the issues you are working on is vital to the success of your organization. Without a clear message to send, people may not know how they can help or what actions they can take to improve their community. You will find the Community Tool Box has devoted several sections to the pieces of the communication puzzle, taking you step by step through the processes you need to effectively get your message out.