In health campaigns, messages that ought to be used should be persuasive

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Running Header: DRUG CAMPAIGN

Running Header: DRUG CAMPAIGNS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drug Campaign

Amanda Vallera

Arizona State University

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In health campaigns, messages that ought to be used should be persuasive. These messages should be captivating to allow everyone to get interested in reading the content. This should also depend on the audience of the word because the different audience has different captivating or compelling messages depending on maybe their age, gender, or even level of knowledge, (Bennett, 2008). According to this health campaign, as already identified earlier, the audience would be the youths as they are the most affected when it comes to the issue of drugs. This means that the messages used should be based on their age. Here gender is not considered so much as both the young boys and girls are affected. The level of education in high schools and universities as most of the young people are in those schools or fields.

Persuasive messages in health campaigns are not easy to come up with, but research has come up with some words that may help people change their behaviors and at least stop using the drugs to help reduce this drug abuse. These messages have been grouped in various ways. There are puzzling messages, and this is the type of news that encourages people to have discussions on the topics based on drug abuse. This is because they may get more knowledge of the drugs and know all the harmful effects of these drugs. Persuasive messages may help the audience by bringing experiences when reading the content in the campaign. These messages may enable the audience or the target to interpret the signal, and sometimes when one feels as if something is talking to him or her, he or she tends to be more attentive and even want to know more, (United States, 2001).

Messages referred to as the fear appeals may greatly help addicts to change. This message applies whereby one gives images of what might happen to the target if he or she does not change the behavior of using drugs or does not listen or take into consideration the recommendations outlined, (Bennett, 2008) This can help play with the psychology of that person because, in real life, nobody wants the worst to happen to him or her. These pictures can help draw a clear image of what might happen to the target, and this will eventually lead to destinations changing as an absolute fear has been instilled into them. These messages cannot be delivered using images but can also be told in the form of stories if the story creates some fear.

For these messages to reach the intended audience, which in our case are the youths, perfect channels of communication need to be used. A campaign is meant to educate people, and therefore the messages should reach the target for a drive to be called a success. Mass media can significantly help in ensuring that drug messages reach young people. (Bennett, 2008). This is a perfect channel of communication in drug campaign because it goes hand on hand with our audience. Youths are people who love using the mass media, and they are always online. Mass media is also efficient as it is full. This is because it has a lot of social platforms in which the youths love using. These platforms can be used in relaying messages to teenagers. However, mass media has some of its disadvantages, and this is because it is the same media that advertises the use of those drugs and informs the youths where drugs can be found, (United States, 2001).

Different strategies should be put or outlined as they explain the aims of the campaign. These strategies will help the campaigners to set specific objectives that they feel they want to achieve, (Hornik, Jacobsohn, Orwin, Piesse & Kalto, 2008). This objective can be significant even after campaigns as they can know if they achieved their goals.

References

Hornik, R., Jacobsohn, L., Orwin, R., Piesse, A., & Kalton, G. (2008). Effects of the national youth anti-drug media campaign on youths. American Journal of Public Health, 98(12), 2229-2236.

Bennett, C. (2008). The emergence of Australia’s national campaign against drug abuse: a case-study in the politics of drug control. Journal of Australian Studies, 32(3), 309-321.

United States. (2001). Effectiveness of the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign: Hearing before the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and Human Resources of the Committee on Government Reform, House of Representatives ; One Hundred Sixth Congress, second session ; July 11, 2000.

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