Understanding Health Communication to advance Health Promotion and Disease Prevention

Effective health communication is core in public health practice. Health Promotion and Disease Prevention involves interventions, education, and incentives targeted to ensure healthy lives, improve wellbeing, prevent diseases and specific health risks through informing healthy behaviors as opposed to the curative model of care. According to the Centers for Disease control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Cancer Institute, Health Communication is the study and use of communication strategies to inform and influence individual decisions that enhance health. Health communication includes verbal and written strategies to influence individuals, communities and populations to make healthier choices which in turn positively influences health outcomes. In Nigeria, most of the leading causes of death are preventable and as such 56.7% of Nigerians need access to innovative, intensifying and cost effective health based information disemmination programs. Health Communication is unarguably the most effective method for enhancing behavior change, through strategies like; health campaigns, bill boards, social media, radio or television and newsletters.