Running head: HEALTH AWARENESS COMMUNICATION 1

Florida’s public health information campaign

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 HEALTH AWARENESS CAMPAIGN 2

Health communication campaign in Florida

The prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the US has been a cause of alarm as there has been an

escalation in the number of people carrying the virus in their system (Nichols, 1989). The effect

of this fatal disease in the nation has upheaved spontaneously and rapidly across the states of US

nation. Most states have been channelling their outcry to the federal government for intervention

on the widespread of this epidemic on the nation. The disease which was first discovered in New

York and San Francisco states which has evolved rapidly to become one of the deadliest

infections to cause an increase in mortality and morbidity of human beings. A reason for such

devastating impact is that the virus knows no cure so that the best treatment for it is just

prevention measures. The current era illustrate that the state of Florida has out-matched other

states (Mccoy, 1996). The spread of HIV in Florida has even outplaced the imminent states of

New York where the disease had commenced. It is in this regard of the epidemic of AIDS in the

states of Florida that a communication campaign on it is applied in order to inform the Florida

residents about AIDS and to effectively pursue its eradication.

Notably, achieving an effective communication campaign on AIDS in the task of creating

awareness on the epidemic of AIDS, clearly calls for a well-structured communications concepts

and theories that are ideal for the situation in Florida. Strategies that are recommendable in

terms of tailoring messages to both passive and active audience, deploying the message in

simplicity and the ease of understanding, reinforcing the message through social channels and

using the word of mouth technique should be implicated to achieve the objective of carrying out

efficient communication campaign in states of Florida through multiple channels. According to

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the Gayellow pages, 2015 on Florida AID awareness, it is well noted that people are always

affected by the media, it is permissible to state a deductive strategy that can manipulate the

message on AIDS in order to be adequately understood by the passive and active audience

sojourning in the Florida residence. It is concerned that the active audience concept should be

focused in assessing what people do with the media through participating in the decision making

on how to use the message they receive. The active audience is always characterised by five

distinct features they selectively choose the media to use. They use the media to meet specific

needs and goals which makes them utilitarian, they possess purpose for media’s content and they

get involved in using the media as well as they are not, easily persuaded by the media class. In

order to tailor the message strategically to meet the needs of the passive and active audience, an

implication of a satisfaction of audience characteristics, audience perception and interpretation

towards should be fully realised. The application of this make can be achieved in the Florida

situation by taking a closer look at what is actually taking place in Florida. This will influence

the reception analysis of the Florida residence as a concise understanding is garnered on how the

residence will view the message passed. The message in question is campaign on AIDS of which

the public relation personnel will possess the prior knowledge that the Florida residence will

decode the message in ways that reflect on themselves. Another way to satiate the passive and

active voice residents of Florida is through getting closer to the audience by engaging with them

at an individual level. Instituting such strategies can lead to a realisation of effective

communication campaign in the states of Florida. (Manisha, 2006)

The AIDS infection has inconsiderately attacked all kind of personnel in Florida’s states

from the aged to young individuals, heterosexual or bisexual, rich to poor and many more

categories of human kind (Feldman, 1998). Therefore, creating awareness of these infections
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demands that the public relations personnel to transverse careful while administering his goal of

informing the Florida residents about AIDS. This is because one word can affect chaos or

unintended conflict through discriminatory words or words of prejudice as well as racial

segregation that is conferred to the history of this states. It is thereby in accordance for the

message to be passed with simplicity and in an ease of understanding. To achieve this, it is

crucial for the message that is being talked about to be clearly right. Information like

acknowledging that there is no cure for AIDS is affirmative and true. It is unrealistic to cloth

such glaring truth behind charismatic delivery technique. Conveying information of this illness

with precision retains its simplicity to the audience in the Florida residence. Thus, it prevents

confusion that can culminate from telling fables or mere scientific anticipation. Also,

acknowledging that the widespread of the virus in the state of Florida was contributed by the

anomalous laws of the Florida local government which makes the message easy to understand.

Out-dated laws like the state of Florida hauling numerous laws that stigmatised the AIDS

patients contributed to its prevalence. Notably, stating this will enable the audience to easily

understand the message being conveyed. Furthermore, informing the public that the disease is

also indiscriminate to the gays will easily attain a simple message and construct an effective

communication campaign in Florida.

Social media has also been the centre of employing communication campaign since it

grants an easy access to people (Dutton, 2013). Most of the Florida residents have access to a

social media hub of a television, mobile phone, computers and laptops, cabled televisions and

many more. Exploiting these grounds for carrying out a HIV/AIDS awareness program to the

residents of Florida can amount to a real success. Social media will guarantee uncensored access

to almost all the residents living in Florida without any barrier curtailing or manipulating the
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message. A concrete strategy of reinforcing the message by initiating televisions programs that

will demonstrate the most of the excruciating effects of the ailment on people will easily educate

the Florida residence by imbuing a strafing notion on unprotected sex or any sort of depravity

that culminate into infection by the horrendous disease. In a more scrutinized concern, also

uploading slides and educative scripts on the website where it can easily be accessed by people

can create an impact in the success of the objective. Social media entails other positive feedback

like enhancing relationships through constructive conversations. Usually, organising events

facilitate interactions that can be intuitive for the betterment of communication with people. All

these ensure a strategic communication concept applicable for Florida residence about the

motion concerning the awareness of HIV/AIDS. The final strategy to be used to realise this

course is the use of the word of the mouth technique that is capable of influencing and

encouraging organic word of mouth discussion amongst the residents of Florida. This will results

into the most effective way of spreading the message thus attaining the realisation of the goal of

communication strategy campaign in the states of Florida.

In summation, a well described and thoroughly discussed communications concepts on the

campaign focused on awareness of HIV/AIDS in the state of Florida has been elaborated above.

it is indeed true and a greater concern that Florida is well circulated by the so called virus

HIV/AIDS thus civic awareness should be implemented to rescue the next victims. The use of

media should be the foremost strategy in achieving the strategies brought about by the various

communication strategies and theories. Therefore, a strategic communication concept and

theories in the task of informing Florida residents about AIDS will be gained by considering

scrutiny of recommendable terms of conveying the message.

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References

Dutton, W. H. (2013). The Oxford Handbook of internet studies. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.

Feldman, D. A. (1998). The AIDS crisis: A documentary history (Print book : English ed.).
Westport, Conn : Greenwood Press.

Manisha, S. (2006). The impact of a mass media campaign on HIV/AIDS knowledge and
behaviour. Asian Journal of communication, 16, 231-250.

Mccoy, C. B. (1996). Sex, drugs, and the spread of HIV/AIDS in Florida . Medical Anthropology
Quartely, 83-93.

Nichols, E. K. (1989). Mobilizing Against AIDS (print book ed.). New York, USA: Press 1989.

Gayellow pages USA (2015). New York: Renaissance House Pub.