EFFECTIVE HEALTH MESSAGE DESIGN - THE AMERICA RESPONDS TO AIDS CAMPAIGN

The greatest health communication challenge of the 20th century-preven ting the spread of HIV and curtailing the AIDS epidemic-threatens the health of citizens for the next century despite governmental efforts t o limit the spread of the deadly disease. The authors analyze a govern mental media campaign, the America Responds to AIDS campaign waged by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, outlining strengt hs and shortcomings of the effort. This article applies the workable i ntegrative negotiation (WIN(sm)) principles of COAST(sm) (communicatio n, options, alternatives, standards, and trust) in a descriptive analy sis of a specific national marketing communication effort by the gover nment. The authors concur on the necessity of a comprehensive approach of individually adapting health care messages to advance the overall quality of media campaigns and the health of America in general.