On Health Communication And Public Health Behavior Optimization In China

Health is the basis for the overall development of people relating to happiness of millions of households. Health is the purpose of the economic and social development, as well as a means of economic and social development. Strengthening communication of health and public health behavior research has an important significance to improving people’s health literacy and quality of national health, protecting and promoting productivity.Currently, China is at the stage of rapid economic and social development. Ecological and environmental problems brought about by urbanization and industrialization and life behavior change, as well as the acceleration of the aging of the population, have made the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes and other chronic diseases the biggest threat to people’s lives and health. Therefore, to declare war against unhealthy lifestyles, is not only a necessary means to stop prevent chronic non-communicable diseases from out breaking in China, but also the national solution to maintain economic development, social stability and national prosperity.The purpose of health development is to maintain people’s health in addition to diseases treatment. One of the important methods to achieve nation-wide health is to carry out nation-wide health management. Health management includes health communication and health interventions. Health management is also a creative solution to solve the difficulties and expensiveness in disease treatment which bothering the whole world, as well as one of the important direction for China’s medical reform. The goal of health communication is to change public behavior, including the termination of the old unhealthy behavior, enhancement of new health behavior, as well as strengthening existing health behavior by changing personal behavior and to change the group behavior and subsequently the social behavior by changing individual behavior. In this sense, health communication plays adecisive role for the promotion of public health behavior.This dissertation comprehensively uses the basic principles of preventive medicine, communication studies, sociology, psychology, economics to analyze the problems and challenges in the Chinese health communication, reveal the relationship between health communication and public health behavior, and propose policy recommendations and dissemination strategies for China to promote public health which will greatly improve the accuracy and effectiveness of health communication.This dissertation analyzes that the main factors that affect the behavior of public health include communication factors, psychological factors and economic factors. Health behavior is a very complex phenomenon and it is the result of cross-interaction, penetration, impact and constraints among many factors. The main factor of communication is based on persuasion theory, including communicators, and dissemination of content and target of communication and each of them may affect the communication results. Psychological factors are mainly based on the theory of cognitive dissonance and therefore, reduction of cognitive dissonance is an effective way to change public behavior. Economic factors are mainly based on the irrational time discounting theory, according to which people tend to choose the result which is smaller in amount of smaller but can be obtained more easily or quickly instead of choosing the ones bigger in amount but shall be obtained less easily or less quickly.The current global trends in health reform is the medical model shifts from mainly depends on disease treatment to disease prevention and health management, with putting particular emphasis on the leading role of health communication and health education. For the sake of putting the long-term interests of the nation, we shall view the situation on the level of development of national economy and society and to implement the health strategy; to establish concept of health goals and putting health communication as the strategic priority in health reform; to reflect the principle of "prevention is the priority" and to safeguard the health of the overwhelming majority of people at the lowest cost. At the same time, include health communication in the Medicare payment system and turn health communication into a social public policy, thereby to reduce the utilization of health care resources, and reduce the health care costs of chronic diseases, and protect health productivity.The next20years is a crucial strategic period for China to improve the quality of the national health and to seize the opportunities to achieve more with early intervention. Otherwise, not only the health quality of the generations will be affected, the fruits of the socio-economic development will also be wasted. Cultivation of public health behavior is a complex systematic project. In promoting public health behavior, we do not lack courage, but skill and strategy. Therefore, to change the public’s unhealthy lifestyle, and to promote healthy behavior cultivation we must implement the scientific and effective communication strategy. In this dissertation, the following major communication strategies are presented: public commitment strategy, reward crucial behavioral strategy, intimidation and performance strategy, peer education strategy, risk communication strategy, plot-explosion strategy.The starting point and end point of health communication are affecting public behavior. It is only a breathtaking leap from health knowledge into healthy behaviors. Only the integrated use of public policy and communication strategies will push more Chinese people to say goodbye to unhealthy habits and walk towards a healthy new life.