Includes bibliographical references (p. [200]-214) and index.

List of figures -- List of contributors -- Editor's acknowledgements -- Publisher's acknowledgements -- Introduction / Nova Corcoran -- 1. Theories and models in communicating health messages / Nova Corcoran -- Communication defined -- Components of communication -- Factors influencing communication -- Models and theories overview -- Why use theoretical models -- Problems associated with theory-based approach -- Theories -- The theory of planned behaviour -- Health belief model -- Criticisms of cognitive theories -- Transtheoretical model -- Process of behaviour change -- Criticisms of stage-step theories -- The communication-persuasion model and the information-persuasion matrix -- Criticisms of the communication -persuasion model -- Practical implications : which theoretical model? -- Practical implications : getting started -- Practical implications : individual change vs structural change -- The theory of planned behaviour in practice -- The health belief model in practice -- Application of the transtheoretical model (TTM) to practice --

2. Social and psychological factors in communication / Nova Corcoran and Sue Corcoran -- Why social and psychological factors? -- The target group -- The relevance of social and psychological factors to communication -- Social factors overview -- Social factors and health promotion practice -- Psychological factors overview -- Attitudes -- Beliefs -- Values -- Predicting attitudes, beliefs and values in practice -- Strategies for changing attitudes and behaviours -- Changing attitudes through information giving -- Changing attitudes through behaviour -- Implications for practice -- 3. Reaching unreachable groups and crossing cultural barriers in communication health promotion / Barbara Goodfellow and Calvin Moorley -- Crossing cultural barriers -- Communicating across cultural barriers - process and structural barriers -- Process barriers -- Structural barriers -- Communication and people living with disabilities -- The classification and definition of disability -- Labelling and stigma -- Health promotion - communication and language -- Health care communication and disability -- Policy - the expert patient -- Defining, profiling and locating older people -- Health and wellbeing -- Communication and barriers to working with older people -- Older peoples' health policy and health promotion --

4. Mass media in health communication / Nova Corcoran -- What is mass media? -- Common mass media use in health promotion -- What the mass media can and cannot deliver -- Creating a health campaign using mas media -- Supportive environments -- Audience segmentation and message design -- Social marketing -- Criticisms of social marketing -- Utilizing the media for free -- Using incentives : fear appeals and positive appeals -- 5. Information technology in health communication / Nova Corcoran -- The role of IT in health -- The practitioner and the lay person -- The potential of it in health promotion -- The Internet -- Computer-based interventions -- Computer-based touch-screen kiosks -- Computer-based CD-ROMs -- Mobile phones -- Advantages and disadvantages of IT -- Using IT in health promotion -- Tailoring information -- Designing resources in IT -- Overcoming barriers to IT -- Internet advocacy --

6. Using settings to communicate health promotion / Nova Corcoran and Anthony Bone -- Defining settings -- Types of settings -- Main features of settings -- Traditional settings -- Non-traditional settings -- The advantages of using settings -- The disadvantages of using settings -- Overview of four non-traditional settings -- Places of worship -- Universities -- Personal care settings -- Travel centres -- g 7. Evidence-based practice and communication / Nova Corcoran and John Garlick -- Definitions of evidence-based practice -- Rationale for evidence base -- What evidence can be used? -- The Young@heart evidence-based initiative -- Where to find evidence? -- Problems with using the evidence base -- Acceptability and transferability -- How to establish an evidence base -- Using an evidence base to identify methods and strategies --

8. Using evaluation in health promotion communication / Sue Corcoran -- Defining evaluation -- Why evaluate communication in health promotion? -- Overview of models and theories of evaluation in health promotion -- Process, impact and outcome evaluation -- Economic evaluation -- Pluralistic evaluation -- Participatory evaluation -- Social marketing -- Experimental design evaluation -- Evaluating interventions using theoretical models of communication -- What to measure -- Evaluation of mass communication -- Evaluating the dissemination of results in health promotion -- Barriers to disseminating evaluation -- Conclusion: bridging theory and practice - ten different health promotion campaigns / Nova Corcoran -- Activity discussions -- Glossary -- References -- Index