Public Health Communication

• Contents: Preface. Introduction. R. Hornik, Public Health Communication: Making Sense of Contradictory Evidence. Part I: Deliberate Trials.J.K. Worden, B.S. Flynn, Using Mass Media to Prevent Cigarette Smoking. P. Palmgreen, L. Donohew, E.P. Lorch, R.H. Hoyle, M.T. Stephenson, Television Campaigns and Sensation Seeking Targeting of Adolescent Marijuana Use: A Controlled Time Series Approach. J.P. Pierce, P. Macaskill, D. Hill, Long-Term Effectiveness of the Early Mass Media Led Antismoking Campaigns in Australia. Part II: Evaluations of Full-Scale Interventions.E.J. Roccella, The Contributions of Public Health Education Toward the Reduction of Cardiovascular Disease Mortality: Experiences From the National High Blood Pressure Education Program. A.F. Williams, J.K. Wells, D.W. Reinfurt, J.K. Wells, Increasing Seat Belt Use in North Carolina. J.P. Pierce, S. Emery, E. Gilpin, The California Tobacco Control Program: A Long-Term Health Communication Project. M. Siegel, L. Biener, The Impact of Antismoking Media Campaigns on Progression to Established Smoking: Results of a Longitudinal Youth Study in Massachusetts. K. Wellings, Evaluating AIDS Public Education in Europe: A Cross-National Comparison. S. McCombie, R.C. Hornik, J.K. Anarfi, Effects of a Mass Media Campaign to Prevent AIDS Among Young People in Ghana. D. Hill, V. White, R. Marks, R. Borland, Changes in Sun-Related Attitudes and Behaviors, and Reduced Sunburn Prevalence in a Population at High Risk of Melanoma. D.L. Kincaid, A.P. Merritt, L. Nickerson, S. de Castro Buffington, M.P.P. de Castro, B.M. de Castro, Impact of a Mass Media Vasectomy Promotion Campaign in Brazil. S. Zimicki, R.C. Hornik, C.C. Verzosa, J.R. Hernandez, E. de Guzman, M. Dayrit, A. Fausto, M.B. Lee, Improving Vaccination Coverage in Urban Areas Through a Health Communication Campaign: The 1990 Philippines Experience. R.C. Hornik, J. McDivitt, S. Zimicki, P.S. Yoder, E. Contreras-Budge, J. McDowell, M. Rasmuson, Communication in Support of Child Survival: Evidence and Explanations From Eight Countries. Part III: Media Coverage and Health Behavior.D.P. Fan, Impact of Persuasive Information on Secular Trends in Health-Related Behaviors. S.B. Soumerai, D. Ross-Degnan, J.S. Kahn, The Effects of Professional and Media Warnings About the Association Between Aspirin Use in Children and Reye's Syndrome. K. Viswanath, J.R. Finnegan, Jr., Reflections on Community Health Campaigns: Secular Trends and the Capacity to Effect Change. Part IV: Cross-Case Overviews.A.L. McAlister, M. Fernandez, "Behavioral Journalism" Accelerates Diffusion of Healthy Innovations. W. Smith, From Prevention Vaccines to Community Care: New Ways to Look at Program Success. L.B. Snyder, M.A. Hamilton, A Meta-Analysis of U.S. Health Campaign Effects on Behavior: Emphasize Enforcement, Exposure, and New Information, and Beware the Secular Trend. R. Hornik, Epilogue: Evaluation Design for Public Health Communication Programs.

"This is a first-rate volume that should be read--and then put on the bookshelves--of every reader of this journal and everyone involved in social marketing. It features strong theory and careful science for scholars....Robert Hornik...has done us all a great service by carefully pulling together what we know about the effects of public health communications on behavior....He has assembled in one place a great deal of evidence about the efficacy of one rival/complementary approach. He has also provided a compelling narrative about why and when public health communications actually work. Finally, he has offered research guidelines for those who seek to support their own arsenal of interventions. I can only hope that in ten year's time, one of us can edit a similarly praiseworthy volume, perhaps with the title Social Marketing: Evidence for Behavior Change."—Social Marketing Quarterly"...the book provides complementary analytic chapters with a meta-analysis of published results, some approaches to developing communication interventions, and alternative methods for evaluation of public health communication projects."—International Journal of Public Opinion Research"...the book's excellent organization and comprehensiveness, make it a distinct and authoritative contribution to the fields of public health communication, health promotion, and behavior change."—Journal of Community Health"...this exceptionally well-written volume serves several purposes. Perhaps most importantly, it provides strong evidence that public communication campaigns can be potent influences on health behavior changes, across a variety of changer indicators. Second, the book is a terrific methodological read for those with and without deep understanding of the statistical bases of most advanced designs, carefully comparing the advantages and pitfalls of a variety of methods. Researchers with interest in evaluation per se, regardless of subject area, will benefit from this presentation. Third, the volume is as detailed and as thoughtful an overview of current work in public health programs literature as may be available at this writing."—Public Opinion Quarterly"...the book serves as a useful supplement for addressing challenges associated with the evaluation of campaigns. Public Health Communication is a must-read for graduate students, researchers, evaluators, and policy makers because it identifies the complex reality in which communication compaigns function....The continued funding of public communication campaigns rests on the ability of stakeholders to demonstrate the effectiveness of campaigns--and Public Health Communication bolsters stakeholders' ability to supply evidence for that purpose."—Journal of Health Communication