April 2-4, 2020 • Hyatt Regency • Lexington, KY
Intersectionality and Interdisciplinarity in Health Communication Research
Intersectionality and Interdisciplinarity in Health Communication Research
Abstract: Pregnant Women’s Perception of Climate Change
Climate change is a global threat that poses significant risks to pregnant women and to the developing fetus and, especially in low income and urban areas (IPCC, 2007; UNFCCC, 2018; Kuehn and McCormick, 2017). Educating pregnant women about the risks to their pregnancy may improve maternal and child health outcomes.
Using a post-test only randomized control group design with 151 participants, this study investigated the effectiveness of two forms of educational messages–traditional fact-based messages versus narrative messages–on pregnant women’s actual knowledge, perceived knowledge, self-efficacy, risk perception, information seeking behavior, and intended behavior.
Participants were randomly assigned to one of three different groups: (1) narrative information (2), traditional information (3) and no information control treatment. Overall, we hypothesized that narrative messages would yield positive impact on the above listed concepts when compared to other control groups. A majority of the participants were Black/African American pregnant women. MANOVA was used to analyze data collected. Findings show that a single exposure to narrative based message was more effective than the traditional message form on all outcome measures–actual knowledge, perceived knowledge, self-efficacy, risk perception, information seeking behavior, and intended behavior. Also, majority of the pregnant women perceived climate change as a threat to their health and the health of their unborn baby. Pregnant women who were exposed to narrative messages had an increased willingness to engage in self protective behaviors and even actively seek information. This study suggests the feasibility of using brief narrative educational messages to educate pregnant women on climate change health risks as it relates to both their health and that of their developing babies. This study also adds to a growing literature on the effectiveness of narrative-based approaches to health communication.
Using a post-test only randomized control group design with 151 participants, this study investigated the effectiveness of two forms of educational messages–traditional fact-based messages versus narrative messages–on pregnant women’s actual knowledge, perceived knowledge, self-efficacy, risk perception, information seeking behavior, and intended behavior.
Participants were randomly assigned to one of three different groups: (1) narrative information (2), traditional information (3) and no information control treatment. Overall, we hypothesized that narrative messages would yield positive impact on the above listed concepts when compared to other control groups. A majority of the participants were Black/African American pregnant women. MANOVA was used to analyze data collected. Findings show that a single exposure to narrative based message was more effective than the traditional message form on all outcome measures–actual knowledge, perceived knowledge, self-efficacy, risk perception, information seeking behavior, and intended behavior. Also, majority of the pregnant women perceived climate change as a threat to their health and the health of their unborn baby. Pregnant women who were exposed to narrative messages had an increased willingness to engage in self protective behaviors and even actively seek information. This study suggests the feasibility of using brief narrative educational messages to educate pregnant women on climate change health risks as it relates to both their health and that of their developing babies. This study also adds to a growing literature on the effectiveness of narrative-based approaches to health communication.