applying path engagement protocols - messaging and media
This section outlines the steps to apply the PATH Engagement Protocols for Messaging and Media.
Step 1:
Determine the form of ad and focus of promotion.
This example will be a print ad promoting Boston Medical Group
Step 2:
Identify the targeted PATH.
The print ad will be targeted and tailored for Healthcare Driven
Step 3:
Go to Table 1 Patterns of Adapting to Health (PATH) Response Profiles.
Refer to the Healthcare Driven column and select five response levels associated with strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree.
Copy the suggested Engagement Protocols for the five response levels from Step 3.
Healthcare Driven: Level of healthcare information seeking
Level: Somewhat high
Question: q1
Core statement: I look for health information so that I can choose from different health care treatments
Response: Somewhat agree
Intrinsic Motivation: I’m interested in health care information, and I’m motivated to learn about it. When I hear about health care topics, my ears perk up.
Recommendations: These adults are avid seekers of health care information. Advertisements designed for them should provide detailed information to support communicating the core message (e.g., name, location, call us because, use us because).
Themes: Visual or auditory cues can include health care professionals portrayed as seeing their role as one of collaborating with and learning from their patients (e.g., "I respect my patient’s efforts to stay informed about healthcare trends." "My informed patients keep me on my toes."). Patients or adults should be portrayed as seeking information themselves and not relying on a doctor to "do it all for them." (e.g., "People need to be informed about health care options. You can't expect a doctor to tell you all you need to know.").
Healthcare Driven: Propensity to avoid health care
Level: Somewhat disagree
Question: q12
Core statement: I do not seek help from doctors unless I am really sick or injured
Response: Somewhat disagree
Intrinsic Motivation: I prefer to seek health care at the first sign of a problem to make sure it is not the beginning of something major. I rarely let my decision to seek health care be affected by the cost.
Recommendations: The theme of "getting healthcare at the first sign of trouble" or "getting frequent check-ups" should dominate the message. Also, the expense is not an issue limiting their need to be seen. The cost of care acts as a very minor deterrent to getting the opinion they need from the medical professional. So the individual sees the expense as necessary and an investment in future good health.
Themes: Visual cues can include physician and patient, or nurse and patient, or the individual. Traditional medical settings (e.g., doctor's office, hospital) should be stressed or new delivery settings (e.g., shopping centers). Auditory cues can also include the authoritative voice of the doctor or the voice of the assertive patient who makes sure the doctor checks everything. For example, the patient can be shown or portrayed extolling the virtues of check-ups and early detection over waiting to see if the "little pain" goes away. And the cost is not a factor.
Healthcare Driven: Trust in medical professionals
Level: Somewhat high
Question: q13
Core statement: Most doctors and nurses are not as good at what they to as we hear they are
Response: Somewhat disagree
Intrinsic Motivation: I have few doubts about the competence of all doctors or nurses. They hardly ever make mistakes about treatments and prescribe many medications with adequate knowledge of side effects.
Recommendations: Message and positioning themes should center on trust in the doctor. The primary deliverer of the message can be the physician or other professional healthcare workers, or the individual patient. The medical professional is the authority that you can trust and rely on.
Themes: Visual images should include patient and doctor or patient and nurse. Visuals can include medical settings (e.g., outside or inside doctor's office, outside or inside a hospital). Auditory cues should reflect the authoritative physician voice explaining things to the patient, or the patient extolling the virtues of their doctor.
Healthcare Driven: Propensity to avoid health care and price concern
Level: Somewhat disagree
Question: q8
Core statement: I only seek help from doctors or therapists when I am really sick because it is too expensive
Response: Somewhat disagree
Intrinsic Motivation: I prefer to seek health care at the first sign of a problem to make sure it is not the beginning of something major. I rarely let my decision to seek health care be affected by the cost.
Recommendations: The theme of "getting healthcare at the first sign of trouble" or "getting frequent check-ups" should dominate the message. Also, the expense is not an issue limiting their need to be seen. The cost of care acts as a very minor deterrent to getting the opinion they need from the medical professional. So the individual sees the expense as necessary and an investment in future good health.
Themes: Visual cues can include physician and patient, or nurse and patient, or the individual. Traditional medical settings (e.g., doctor's office, hospital) should be stressed or new delivery settings (e.g., shopping centers). Auditory cues should focus on the individual who extols the necessity of the "doctor's seal of approval" to know that things are alright. Auditory cues can also include the authoritative voice of the doctor or the voice of the assertive patient who makes sure the doctor checks everything. For example, the patient can be shown or portrayed extolling the virtues of check-ups and early detection over waiting to see if the "little pain" goes away. And the cost is not a factor.
Healthcare Driven: Level of health emphasis and involvement
Level: Very high
Question: q11
Core statement: I am always on the lookout for information about nutrition and healthy dieting
Response: Strongly agree
Intrinsic Motivation: I’m very motivated to think about what I eat and to give thought to good nutrition. I want good health. It’s work, but I am willing to take the time to keep up with what I eat.
Recommendations: Focus on the values of proper nutrition and dieting, and a genuine commitment to optimum nutritional fitness.
Themes: Visual cues should stress activities or signals that communicate the commitment to good nutrition (e.g., eating fresh fruit and vegetables, drinking protein drinks, rare consumption of junk or fast food). Auditory or message cues should portray the individual as saying things like, "After I work out at the gym, I have my protein drink."
Step 4:
Applying the Copied PATH Engagement Protocols
Review the content of the copied PATH Engagement Protocols for the targeted PATH and summarize the key messages. From the above guidelines for the Healthcare Driven, the following key messages can be distilled:
Step 5:
Go to Table 2 PATH Demographics, Life Stage, Socioeconomics, and Health Status
The information in Table 2 is used to improve the portrayal of each PATH using physical, health, and social characteristics. For the targeted PATH, identify the concentration indices greater than 1.00.
From Table 2, the portrayal of the Healthcare Driven adult can include the following physical or social characteristics:
Step 6:
Develop print ad mockup
Conclusion
The integration of PATH Engagement Protocols into health communications and advertising is straight forward. By following the six steps outlined above, along with creativity and skill, the PATH Engagement Protocols can improve the ability of your message or promotion to speak to adults in both targeted and tailored ways. Doing this will improve the ability of your health communications to engage and persuade consumers.
Step 1:
Determine the form of ad and focus of promotion.
This example will be a print ad promoting Boston Medical Group
Step 2:
Identify the targeted PATH.
The print ad will be targeted and tailored for Healthcare Driven
Step 3:
Go to Table 1 Patterns of Adapting to Health (PATH) Response Profiles.
Refer to the Healthcare Driven column and select five response levels associated with strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat disagree, or strongly disagree.
Copy the suggested Engagement Protocols for the five response levels from Step 3.
- Example AHBI Themes selected:
Healthcare Driven: Level of healthcare information seeking
Level: Somewhat high
Question: q1
Core statement: I look for health information so that I can choose from different health care treatments
Response: Somewhat agree
Intrinsic Motivation: I’m interested in health care information, and I’m motivated to learn about it. When I hear about health care topics, my ears perk up.
Recommendations: These adults are avid seekers of health care information. Advertisements designed for them should provide detailed information to support communicating the core message (e.g., name, location, call us because, use us because).
Themes: Visual or auditory cues can include health care professionals portrayed as seeing their role as one of collaborating with and learning from their patients (e.g., "I respect my patient’s efforts to stay informed about healthcare trends." "My informed patients keep me on my toes."). Patients or adults should be portrayed as seeking information themselves and not relying on a doctor to "do it all for them." (e.g., "People need to be informed about health care options. You can't expect a doctor to tell you all you need to know.").
Healthcare Driven: Propensity to avoid health care
Level: Somewhat disagree
Question: q12
Core statement: I do not seek help from doctors unless I am really sick or injured
Response: Somewhat disagree
Intrinsic Motivation: I prefer to seek health care at the first sign of a problem to make sure it is not the beginning of something major. I rarely let my decision to seek health care be affected by the cost.
Recommendations: The theme of "getting healthcare at the first sign of trouble" or "getting frequent check-ups" should dominate the message. Also, the expense is not an issue limiting their need to be seen. The cost of care acts as a very minor deterrent to getting the opinion they need from the medical professional. So the individual sees the expense as necessary and an investment in future good health.
Themes: Visual cues can include physician and patient, or nurse and patient, or the individual. Traditional medical settings (e.g., doctor's office, hospital) should be stressed or new delivery settings (e.g., shopping centers). Auditory cues can also include the authoritative voice of the doctor or the voice of the assertive patient who makes sure the doctor checks everything. For example, the patient can be shown or portrayed extolling the virtues of check-ups and early detection over waiting to see if the "little pain" goes away. And the cost is not a factor.
Healthcare Driven: Trust in medical professionals
Level: Somewhat high
Question: q13
Core statement: Most doctors and nurses are not as good at what they to as we hear they are
Response: Somewhat disagree
Intrinsic Motivation: I have few doubts about the competence of all doctors or nurses. They hardly ever make mistakes about treatments and prescribe many medications with adequate knowledge of side effects.
Recommendations: Message and positioning themes should center on trust in the doctor. The primary deliverer of the message can be the physician or other professional healthcare workers, or the individual patient. The medical professional is the authority that you can trust and rely on.
Themes: Visual images should include patient and doctor or patient and nurse. Visuals can include medical settings (e.g., outside or inside doctor's office, outside or inside a hospital). Auditory cues should reflect the authoritative physician voice explaining things to the patient, or the patient extolling the virtues of their doctor.
Healthcare Driven: Propensity to avoid health care and price concern
Level: Somewhat disagree
Question: q8
Core statement: I only seek help from doctors or therapists when I am really sick because it is too expensive
Response: Somewhat disagree
Intrinsic Motivation: I prefer to seek health care at the first sign of a problem to make sure it is not the beginning of something major. I rarely let my decision to seek health care be affected by the cost.
Recommendations: The theme of "getting healthcare at the first sign of trouble" or "getting frequent check-ups" should dominate the message. Also, the expense is not an issue limiting their need to be seen. The cost of care acts as a very minor deterrent to getting the opinion they need from the medical professional. So the individual sees the expense as necessary and an investment in future good health.
Themes: Visual cues can include physician and patient, or nurse and patient, or the individual. Traditional medical settings (e.g., doctor's office, hospital) should be stressed or new delivery settings (e.g., shopping centers). Auditory cues should focus on the individual who extols the necessity of the "doctor's seal of approval" to know that things are alright. Auditory cues can also include the authoritative voice of the doctor or the voice of the assertive patient who makes sure the doctor checks everything. For example, the patient can be shown or portrayed extolling the virtues of check-ups and early detection over waiting to see if the "little pain" goes away. And the cost is not a factor.
Healthcare Driven: Level of health emphasis and involvement
Level: Very high
Question: q11
Core statement: I am always on the lookout for information about nutrition and healthy dieting
Response: Strongly agree
Intrinsic Motivation: I’m very motivated to think about what I eat and to give thought to good nutrition. I want good health. It’s work, but I am willing to take the time to keep up with what I eat.
Recommendations: Focus on the values of proper nutrition and dieting, and a genuine commitment to optimum nutritional fitness.
Themes: Visual cues should stress activities or signals that communicate the commitment to good nutrition (e.g., eating fresh fruit and vegetables, drinking protein drinks, rare consumption of junk or fast food). Auditory or message cues should portray the individual as saying things like, "After I work out at the gym, I have my protein drink."
Step 4:
Applying the Copied PATH Engagement Protocols
Review the content of the copied PATH Engagement Protocols for the targeted PATH and summarize the key messages. From the above guidelines for the Healthcare Driven, the following key messages can be distilled:
- Patients or adults should be portrayed as seeking information themselves and not relying on a doctor to do it all for them
- getting frequent check-ups should dominate the message
- The medical professional is the authority that you can trust and rely on.
- Visual cues should stress activities or signals that communicate the commitment to good nutrition
Step 5:
Go to Table 2 PATH Demographics, Life Stage, Socioeconomics, and Health Status
The information in Table 2 is used to improve the portrayal of each PATH using physical, health, and social characteristics. For the targeted PATH, identify the concentration indices greater than 1.00.
From Table 2, the portrayal of the Healthcare Driven adult can include the following physical or social characteristics:
- Sex – Female (Index = 1.33)
- Age – Over the age of 50 (e.g., indices - 50-54 [1.39], 55-59 [1.65], 60-64 [1.89])
- Number of children – None (index – 1.18)
- Education – some post-graduate work [index - 1.03] or postgraduate [index - 1.31]
Step 6:
Develop print ad mockup
- Integrate key themes into headlines or tag-lines
- Integrate key themes into captions and body copy
- Integrate key themes into bold or bulleted statements
- Integrate key themes into quoted phrases or captions
- Portray the “customer” demographic traits
Conclusion
The integration of PATH Engagement Protocols into health communications and advertising is straight forward. By following the six steps outlined above, along with creativity and skill, the PATH Engagement Protocols can improve the ability of your message or promotion to speak to adults in both targeted and tailored ways. Doing this will improve the ability of your health communications to engage and persuade consumers.