Research Paper on Health Communication and Public Health Campaigns

Introduction

Health communication is referred to as the technique of persuading, advising and inspiring people on issues pertaining to health through campaigns. As a result, the target audience becomes aware of the critical health issue in the society, influences the audience's social and behavioural changes as well as influences it to be active in the campaign activities. Public health issues in Australia also referred to National Health Priority Areas (NHPAs) by the National Health and Medical Research Council include obesity, mental health, asthma, cancer, and diabetes ("Major health issues", 2016). Obesity is a critical public health issue in Australia hence will be the focus of the campaign. The paper will focus on identification of a critical public health issue, why obesity warrants being a public health campaign, a key element of health communication that is important for a public health leader who will address obesity as well as a potential challenge that can arise when developing the obesity health campaign

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Public Health Issue

Currently, obesity is a critical prevailing public health issue and requires an effective public health campaign to enlighten Australians on the need of living healthily. Australia is ranked fifth among the countries with the highest rates of obesity (Olds, Tomkinson, and Maher, 2017). The obesity rate in Australia among people aged 15 years old and above is over 60% ("Australia's Obesity Statistics in 2017 ", 2018). Some of the factors influencing the increase of obesity rate among Australian citizens include media influence, minimal indulgence in physical activities and consumption of unhealthy foods (Dyer et al., 2017). The media advertises unhealthy foods and drinks hence influencing the public to increase their consumption of packaged and fast foods. There has also been an increase of people eating in fast food outlets. Based on a research by Professor Amanda Lee from the Australian Health Survey, Australians spend over half of their food budget on soft drinks and junk foods. The study also identified that less than 4% of Australians consume the right amounts of healthy foods (Wiedersehn, 2017).

Importance of Public Health Campaign

The health campaign on obesity in Australia is important due to the negative effects of obesity as well as the increasing rate of obesity. High obesity cases have economic and health effect on the victims as well as the society. Obesity makes obese people have increased the risk of chronic illnesses such as dementia, asthma, cardiovascular illness and diabetes (Raubenheimer and Simpson, 2018). Advanced cases of chronic illnesses lead to death hence making obesity a factor contributing to the mortality rate in Australia. The economic effect arises when the government, victims' families and friends spend their money for the treatment of the chronic illnesses. Based on Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC), obesity costs in the economy include $3.8 billion of direct costs and $4.8 billion of indirect costs (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2017). Direct costs include healthcare costs while indirect costs include government programs, care costs and productivity losses due to absenteeism at workplaces. Obesity has been rising over the years in Australia and if critical measures are not undertaken to inform the public on the issue, there can be increased cases of chronic illnesses, deaths as well as financial constraints among families who have obese relatives.

Besides causing chronic illnesses and making people loss finances when treating due to the treatment of the illnesses, the obesity campaign is important as there is a rampant increase in obesity in Australia. Between 2007 and 2008, the proportion of females aged 18 years old and above and above was 48% while males aged 18 years old and above and were obese were 63% of the country's population (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2012). By 2015, the number of obese women had risen to 56.3% of the population of Australian women while obese men were 70.8% of the men's total population in Australia (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2015). On average, the obesity rate among Australian adults was 56.3% in 1995 but rose to 63.4% by 2015 (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2015). It is therefore clear that obesity is worsening over the years and measures need to be taken to reduce it. Based on the figure below, it is clear that obesity rates among men and women increases as one advances in age. Old people have increased chances of chronic conditions and the high obesity rates among them make them likely to acquire over one chronic illness.

Obesity Rates among Australians aged 18 years old and Above (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2015)

It is therefore expensive to care for elderly obese adults. The obese campaign will enable all Australians aged 18 years and above to learn the risks of obesity, the likelihood of being obese as well as activities they need to embrace to reduce obesity risks among them and their families.

Element Essential for a Public Health Leader

Based on the video "Introduction to Communications, Marketing, and Public Relations for Public Health Leaders", for a public health campaign to be successful, one of the activities required is public relations. Therefore, a public health leader who wishes to address obesity should have public relations skills. Public relations (PR) focuses on managing the communication between a firm and its customers or target audience (Doan and Toledano, 2017). In the case of the public health campaign, the role will involve creating a good rapport between the public health sector and all Australians which is important in enabling the public health sector to reach out to the citizens easily on obesity campaigns. Some of the PR roles in the campaign will include creating strategic messages that connect with Australians and their feeding habits as well as using social media platforms to convey the campaign message as well as gather feedback on the issues the target audience faces in striving to maintain healthy lives and suggestions on how they can be solved.

Challenge and Solution

There are people who are overweight due to genetics while some are poor and lack enough money to purchase healthy foods hence end up consuming unhealthy foods that increase their weight. During the campaign, there may be critics on how the campaign makes obese people be seen as people who are ignorant on the health effect of poor food choices or lack of physical exercise yet they are not (Riiser et al., 2015). As a result, the campaign should avoid been bias and focus on encouraging overweight and obese Australians to learn ways they can acquire healthy weight. The campaign should also lobby for affordable food prices on healthy foods to enable the low-income households to afford them.

Conclusion

In conclusion, obesity is a critical public health issue in Australia and a campaign needs to be created to reduce the increasing rate of obesity in the country. The campaign will reduce the risk of chronic illnesses, mortality rate and financial losses among the victims and their families. As a public health leader, one needs to have PR skills to make the obesity campaign successful. The campaign needs to be avoid being bias in low-income households who lack adequate finances to purchase healthy foods or people who are obese due to family history.

References

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2012). 4125.0 - Gender Indicators, Australia, Jan 2012. Retrieved from http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/Lookup/by+Subject/4125.0~Jan+2012~Main+Features~Overweight+and+obesity~3330

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2015). 4364.0.55.001 - National Health Survey: First Results, 2014-15. Retrieved from http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/Lookup/by%20Subject/4364.0.55.001~2014-15~Main%20Features~Overweight%20and%20obesity~22/

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2017). A picture of overweight and obesity in Australia 2017. Cat. no.PHE 216. Canberra: AIHW.

Australia's Obesity Statistics in 2017 - National Eating Disorders and Obesity. (2018). Retrieved from https://eatingdisordersaustralia.org.au/australias-obesity-statistics-2017/\

Doan, M. A., & Toledano, M. (2017). Beyond organization-centred public relations: Collective action through a civic crowdfunding campaign. Public Relations Review.

Dyer, S. M., Gomersall, J. S., Smithers, L. G., Davy, C., Coleman, D. T., & Street, J. M. (2017). Prevalence and characteristics of overweight and obesity in indigenous Australian children: a systematic review. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition, 57(7), 1365-1376.

Major health issues | National Health and Medical Research Council. (2016). Retrieved from https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/book/nhmrc-corporate-plan-2016-2017/nhmrc-s-strategic-direction/major-health-issues

Olds, T., Schranz, N., & Maher, C. (2017). Secular trends in the prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity across Australian states: A meta-analysis. Journal of science and medicine in sport, 20(5), 480-488.

Raubenheimer, D., & Simpson, S. (2018). Our obsession with fats and carbs means we're looking at nutrition all wrong. Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-18/diets-fats-and-carbs-obsession-looking-at-nutrition-all-wrong/9770480

Riiser, K., Londal, K., Ommundsen, Y., Misvaer, N., & Helseth, S. (2015). Targeting and tailoring an intervention for adolescents who are overweight: Some ethical concerns. Nursing ethics, 22(2), 237-247.

Wiedersehn, S. (2017). Australians spend big on junk food. Retrieved from https://www.goodfood.com.au/eat-out/news/australians-spend-big-on-junk-food-20170518-gw7huw