[PNWHEALTH] Health Education Arrives

[Margo Harris]

Okay, I know health education has been here for some time and is a
remarkable field.  Why else would I spend over 30 years in that field?  And
after more than 30 years, I still have these wonderful moments I call
"galactic energizers" or "cosmic two by fours," when I realize how far our
profession has come in a relatively short time.  I see examples of
remarkable, high quality work that I didn't really expect to see in my
career.  I stop and reflect and say something meaningful like, "We've
arrived."  By "we" I mean health education, and more specifically the
linkage of health education theory to practice.  That happened to me on
Friday at my job at Public Health - Seattle & King County.  I received a
link to an article called, "Engaging Food Service Workers in
Behavioral-Change Partnerships."  Now even if you are not a health educator
or you are not all that interested in food service/environmental health,
take a look at this article - it's only 5 pages -
http://www.metrokc.gov/health/env_hlth/behavior-change-food.pdf.  From the
title to the abstract to the text, the article, which appears in the Journal
of Environmental Health, reports on a study conducted at the Key Arena in
Seattle no less.  The intervention relies on four behavioral theory
applications, which it presents in an informative table.  One of the
theories (I've always been taught it's a model), is Consumer Information
Processing Theory (CIP).

I had a great flashback - you can do that when you've done something for 30
years and reflect or reminisce!  When we were first talking about
integrating theory into practice, it was a frightening thought, especially
for those of us who didn't really have an adequate background in health
education theory in undergraduate or graduate school.  I recall a colleague
at a national non-profit agonizing.  "What theory should I pick?  And what
if I pick the wrong one.  Who knew more than one theory could inform, guide,
and shape your intervention!

If the CIP is not a familiar or recognized theory OR model for you, click
right over to cancer.gov to review, Theory at a Glance: A Guide for Health
Promotion Practice -
http://www.nci.nih.gov/cancerinformation/theory-at-a-glance/page4.  If that
is not a resource on your shelf, it is worth the 46-page download.  I recall
the publication of the first edition of Health Education and Behavior by
Glanz, Rimer, and our own Fran Marcus Lewis.  That was pretty heavy reading
for some, and the original version of Theory At A Glance was a blessing.

The CIP Model is not health specific, but it is a great fit with the health
information work we do, and the work most on this list are involved with.
It reminds me that I actually misspeak when I tease my librarian colleagues
about "knowing too much."  The more accurate statement is that we all have
so many information resources and we are so caring and wanting to be
helpful, we want to share them ALL with our clients.  To quote from the
guide,

"CIP theory reflects a combination of rational and motivational ideas. The
use of information is an intellectual process; however, motivation drives
the search for information and how much attention people pay to it. Central
assumptions of CIP are that: (1) Individuals are limited in how much
information they can process, and (2) in order to increase the usability of
information, they combine bits of information into "chunks" and create
decision rules, known as heuristics, to make choices faster and more
easily."

We got a great example of this in a workshop delivered in our NN/LM funded
project, Empowering Parents of Children with Special Health Care Needs.
During the workshops, we conduct a role play.  A library staff member and a
patron desiring health information are paired together in one of several
pre-set scenarios.  The role play played out, and we debriefed.  The
librarian said, "That went pretty well.  We stayed on task, I shared a
number of valuable resources, and I think the patron got what she needed."
The patron replied, "You did a great job, but I've got to tell you.  You
lost me after about the second sentence.  You were saying so many different
things and mentioning different resources that I just stopped hearing what
you said.  I think that happens to the parents I work with a lot.  Just like
them, I kept smiling and nodding my head; so you kept going and thought I
was fine.  Maybe we need to teach parents to hold up their hands in a 'stop
sign' when the information load gets too great."  We went on to strategize
other ways to "chunk" information or limited the number and depth of
resources we shared.

There is a huge emphasis on health literacy right now, as though if we offer
health information in a low or some acceptable literacy format we've done
our job.  The CIP really demonstrates that there is much more than literacy
involved in consumer information processing.  Thanks for listening to my
Monday ramble.  FYI - my eyes always glaze at the word heuristics!!  That
one word limits how I am able to process information.  :-)  Margo

Margo Harris
Seattle, WA
206/932-1273
Email: margo at pnwhealth.com
Internet: www.pnwhealth.com
PNW SOPHE Job Bank: www.pnwhealth.com/jobbank.htm