A great deal of money is spent on health education programmes. But
how do we know that the information has been received by the target
groups, let alone understood and acted upon? Consumer research that
looks at people's knowledge and awareness of education programmes and
attempts to identify their behaviour is critical to the effective
targetting and implementation of health education programmes. Recent
research from Singapore suggests that health communication programmes
are more effective than educators believe, at least in the Singapore
context.
The School of Business at Temasek Polytechnic undertook a survey of
public health consciousness and practices amongst Singaporeans in
September, 1999. The study aimed to identify people's perceptions of
their own state of health and the efforts they make to maintain health.
It also examined attitudinal and behavioural patterns toward physical
activity , weight control, healthy diets and health supplement usage.
The survey was undertaken in 2,427 respondents aged 20 years and
above using the mall-intercept method. Quota sampling was controlled for
age.
In general, the majority of respondents felt positive about their
health with 94 percent rating their health status as at least "fair." Of
these, seven percent said they felt that their health was "excellent."
Perception of good health seems to be linked to income - as incomes
rose, so too did the percentage of people ranking their health as "good"
or "excellent." While most of the younger age groups felt that their
overall health was better or at least the same as it was last year, only
22 percent of the elderly felt that their health had been maintained or
improved. According to the study coordinator, Mr Philip Siow Khing Shing,
Lecturer, Temasek Polytechnic School of Business, Singapore, the results
are en-couraging. "Many of the health education programmes in Singapore
appear to be effective in increasing health conscious-ness," he said.
"More work needs to be done on changing behaviours, especially in
encouraging regular exercise."
