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Strategic Urban Health Communication pp 37–51Cite as

“Soaps” for Social and Behavioral Change

Abstract

Over the past 20 years, health communicators have come to realize that communication strategies need to do more than simply “tell.” Prior to this, it was commonly believed that “if we tell them what’s good for them, people will just naturally adopt healthy behaviors.” But, we all know that none of us likes to be told what to do. We want to choose for ourselves. As health communication has become increasingly more behavior-change oriented, it has of necessity evolved to include the voices of the target audiences themselves in not only identifying the problem, but in crafting the solution.

Such strategic communication requires the participation of audience members in the design of content, themes, and messages. Strategic communication shifts away from communicating to, and instead focuses on communicating with target groups in order to establish solutions.

Keywords

  • Sabido Methodology
  • Strategic communication
  • Sexual health
  • Serial dramas
  • Entertainment-education

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Population Media Center (PMC), 145 Pine Haven Shores Road, Shelburne, 05482, VT, USA

    Kriss Barker PhD

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  1. Kriss Barker PhD
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Correspondence to Kriss Barker PhD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Communication, North Dakota State University, Fargo, North Dakota, USA

    Charles C. Okigbo

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Barker, K. (2014). “Soaps” for Social and Behavioral Change. In: Okigbo, C. (eds) Strategic Urban Health Communication. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9335-8_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-9335-8_4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-9334-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-9335-8

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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