Advancing Public Health Goals Through the Mass Media

This article examines three approaches that incorporate mass media in their strategies to advance public health goals. The first approach reviewed is social marketing. This approach involves integration of marketing principles and social psychology in comprehensive efforts to market socially beneficial ideas behaviors or beliefs to targeted populations. Another approach comes from the field of public relations. Within this orientation the media are engaged to help cultivate professional and social relationships with key publics whose associations will facilitate a publics health organizations ability to realize its mission. The final approach is the media advocacy. This primarily focuses on those factors in the social economic and political environments that predisposes populations to poor health. In addition this paper provides information on the characteristics capabilities and relative benefits and limitations of the three mass media orientation with respect to certain health promotion goals.