Communication Strategy for the Health Care Leader
M2D1: Health Communication Skills and Strategies
For interpersonal communication to be effective, providers must understand the target audience, that is, the patients. “Patients” is not a single category and the target audience for specific communication contexts must be carefully defined.
Consider this scenario: You are a health care service manager and have been asked to participate in a communication campaign to bring in new patients for a health care agency. The health care agency is expanding its services to include bariatric surgery. You have been assigned the task of completing a target audience analysis, which will be presented before the executive staff. Think of this program being located in your own community, or a community with which you are familiar.
Examine the scenario and respond to the following:
1. In your opinion, is it important to consider the cultural background of the target audience in this specific scenario? Why or why not?
2. What do you need to know to complete the analysis? Consider demographics, cultural background, demand, etc.
3. How might the process of doing a target audience analysis differ if you have an aging population? A growing Hispanic population? A population at increased socio-economic risk?