How can nurses become more effective health educators? The message-learning approach to persuasive communication provides useful strategies for direct patient education and, when integrated with other teaching techniques, helps health educators promote change in the health behavior of their patients.
IIIIIII N urses and physicians, in their role as helping professionals, serve as both educators and persuaders. ~ Persuasion is inherent in the efforts of these professionals to promote health. One means of enhancing the effectiveness of educators is to integrate specific persuasive communication strategies based on theories of social marketing and consumer behavior with other health education approaches. Persuasive communication is an interaction between the recipient of the message and the source of the message, who consciously tries to influence the recipient's attitudes or behaviors by means of a specifically designed persuasive message, z This article explores strategies based on the message-learning approach to persuasive communication that are applicable to nursing.
APPROACHES TO HEALTH EDUCATION
The emphasis on promoting health through health education reflects the relationship between chronic disease and reversible lifestyle choices, such as diet, exercise, and tobacco use. In the traditional model of health education, the health educator is