Overview: The Health Communication Process The Stages of the
Health Communication Process For a communication program to be
successful, it must be based on an understanding of the needs
and perceptions of the intended audience. In this book, we
incorporate tips on how to learn about the intended audience’s
needs and perceptions in each of the program stages. Remember,
these needs and perceptions may change as the project
progresses, so be prepared to make changes to the communication
program as you proceed. To help with planning and developing a
health communication program, we have divided the process into
four stages: Planning and Strategy Development; Developing and
Pretesting Concepts, Messages, and Materials; Implementing the
Program; and Assessing Effectiveness and Making Refinements. The
stages constitute a circular process in which the last stage
feeds back into the first as you work through a continuous loop
of planning, implementation, and improvement. Use this book to
produce and implement a plan f