Assignment 4A

Assignment 4A

Analysis - Journal 1

1. The main purpose of this article is: to ‘investigate whether a public education campaign can increase awareness and change help-seeking behaviour with respect to ocular health in an Indian population. The purpose is clearly stated in the abstract as well as throughout the journal article. I think it is justifiable as glaucoma is a major cause of preventable blindness, which could be reduced if there were successful health campaigns.

2. The key question that the author is addressing is: whether or not a ‘public health invention can improve awareness and health-seeking behaviour for glaucoma. I consider the question to be clear and unbiased, due to the researcher wanting to gain knowledge rather than prove a theory.

3. The most important information in this article is:
• Small study group
• Looking at what media is most effective in relation to this group
• Analysing data pre- and post campaign in order to compare effectiveness.

4. The key secondary sources used are:
• Pilot Qualitative Study of Diagnosis and the Impact of Sight Loss
• Research and evaluation of mass media – Changing theory and practice: trends in methods, strategies and settings in health education
• Pilot Study – Can a public health package on glaucoma reach its target audience?
• Glaucoma case finding: a cluster randomized intervention trial
• Department of Health advertising campaigns
• Published and assessed campaigns: physical activity, diabetes and sexual health
• Priorities of focus group: Barriers to uptake f available ophthalmic services among the Asian community in Ealing

5. The key primary sources used are:
• Health Knowledge Questionnaire (General health questions and eye specific topics)
• Pre- and Post-intervention Interviews (Face-to-face interviews took place in participant’s home or within a place of worship. Interview was conducted in participant’s own language).
• Optometric Date (Practices within the study area collected date for 6 months before and after he campaign).

6. The main inferences/conclusions in this article are: Prior to this health education programme knowledge on glaucoma was low amongst the focus group. Results collected during this study show that knowledge on this subject grew after the campaign, with the majority of participants gaining information about glaucoma through the radio. The author highlights that health conscious groups were more responsive and that younger age groups knew more information about the topic. The final conclusion was that the campaign was successful in helping the focus group become more aware, but the campaign failed to have an influence on changing behaviour.

7. The key concept(s) we need to understand in this article is/are: The key concept is to ‘investigate whether a public education campaign can increase awareness and change help-seeking behaviour with respect to ocular health in an Indian population.’ The research also looks into which type of media is most effective in reaching this target audience. However, the reader must understand that this is a very specific study looking at a cultural and area specific group. Therefore the conclusions obtained are only relevant for this group, further studies would have to take place on a larger scale in order to see how different communities would react to this approach of health advertising.

8. The main assumption(s) underlying the author’s thinking is (are): The reader may question whether the author has considered whether or not the participant’s have given honest answers. If the answers are not true then the results will not be accurate. However the author does point out where figures obtained from participants differ from data collected from other sources.

9. If we take this line of reasoning seriously, the implications are: Similar campaigns may be used to target this focus group in the future. The author suggests that charities should consider who they want to reach and how this would be achieved prior to spending money on similar campaigns. This could save charities significant amounts of money, whilst also producing the most successful campaign possible (for target audience).

10. If we fail to take the author’s line of reasoning seriously, the implications are: Radio may be used for all public health campaigns, which would only reach certain groups. Therefore the campaign would be unsuccessful in making the majority of the public aware of health related topics. If charities/ government don’t consider whom they are trying to reach large sums of money may be spent unneccassarily with very little effect.

11. The main point(s) of view presented in this article is (are):
• Greater public awareness may increase understanding
• Media can be effective in conveying information on health issues
• Radio is most successful in reaching this target group
• Health is a low priority in this group

The writer supports their argument by referring to their findings, and other research/studies that enhance the point being made.


Analysis - Journal 2

1. The main purpose of this article is: to ‘investigate the impact of a media campaign for disaster mental health counseling in Post-September 11 New York. The purpose of this article is clearly identified in the title and the objective. Events such as 9/11 can cause mental distress and this research tries to identify whether media spending has an impact in the number of people seeking help.

2. The key question that the author is addressing is: Is there a relationship ‘between the patterns of spending within this campaign and the volume of calls received an referred to a counseling programme.’ The question is well stated and highlighted in the objective section of the journal article. I think the question being asked in unbiased as it aims to discover how effective these campaigns are rather than arguing in favour of them.

3. The most important information in this article is:
• Very rare situation
• Looking at multi-media campaigns
• Analysing media spending in relation to call volume

4. The key secondary sources used are:
• Population Surveys: Mental Health in New York City after the September 11 terrorist attacks.
• Response strategies: Lessons Learned since September 11th, 2001
• Previous campaigns: Media intervention impact: evidence and promising strategies
• Project Liberty Media and Marketing Report
• Awareness and perceptions of a community mental health programme in New York City after September 11
• New York Academy of Medicine Survey

5. The key primary sources used are:
• Project Liberty Media Activity Data (media spending/ types of media used)
• Hotline activity from LifeNet (number of calls received and referred)
• Sloan Group Data (numbers of viewers/listeners)

6. The main inferences/conclusions in this article are: Media spending may have helped generate help-seeking behaviour amongst the counties under investigation during this research period. During times of increased media spending there tended to be more calls made to LifeNet. Knowledge of Project Liberty was most commonly linked to television advertising. Findings also suggest that advertising through television is effective in promoting help-seeking behaviour.

7. The key concept(s) we need to understand in this article is/are: Mental illnesses are stigmatised in America society therefore most people are poorly informed on the topic and the services available to sufferers. However, after an event such as September 11, there will be an increase in mental health problems due to the trauma and stress caused by the incident. Reader must understand that the figures collected are specific to this situation only.

8. The main assumption(s) underlying the author’s thinking is (are): I think the author may be taking the fact that this was a very traumatic event, which effected everyone in New York, for granted. The majority of those living in New York at the time would have suffered some sort of trauma and turned to these help lines for advice. They may have been given this number by their doctor, school or through searching for help online. Media spending can be linked to call volume, however this may not be individual callers, it could be regular users. Therefore statistics may not show the true number of people using these services.

9. If we take this line of reasoning seriously, the implications are: The Health Service has to be aware that after ‘catastrophic events’ there tends to be higher rates of mental distress and services need to be in place to deal with this. Future outreach programmes may look into television and electronic media for advertising as this tends be most effective in promoting health-seeking behaviour. Report also suggests further research would need to conducted in order to justify future media spending.

10. If we fail to take the author’s line of reasoning seriously, the implications are: Money may be spent on advertising that is not effective in encouraging help-seeking behaviour. Also if further research is not carried out into whether multimedia-based campaigns are effective then these campaigns may not reach the people who most need the information.

11. The main point(s) of view presented in this article is (are):
• Events such as 9/11 cause mental distress
• Greater public awareness can increase help-seeking behaviour
• Television is most effective type of media to use to promote this
• Increase in call volumes due to shifting composition of media rather than media spending alone

Author is very fair and refers back to their findings when concluding the report.