Building a Better Message: The 10 Variables That Really Matter (The Reason)

Theoretical Background and research questions/hypothesis: Message mapping is a proven communication tool to deliver complex information in an easy to understand format for emergency and risk communication situations; however, such a tool does not currently exist for chronic disease messages. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Division of Cancer Prevention and Control (DCPC) has created a tool to enable health communicators to systematically and scientifically formulate and validate effective health messages. The web-based Message Development Tool (MDT) was created using an innovative and collaborative design process which included review of the literature, identification of an empirical model on which to base the tool, validation and design input from an expert panel, and prototype design and user testing.

Methods and Results (informing the conceptual analysis): To create the MDT, CDC DCPC and the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) conducted a literature review that resulted in identifying an empirical model for assessing message effectiveness based on key message variables. The model developed by Keller and Lehmann (2008) provides 10 variables that are significant predictors for stated intentions and behavior. The model has been validated through its application to the CDC Verb campaign (2004-2006). Following identification of an empirical model, CDC DCPC and ORISE convened a panel of health communications experts to validate use of the algorithm, inform tool content, usability, dissemination and management, and gain early buy-in from partners in the field of health communication. The fifteen panelists represented private, academic, and governmental sectors and had extensive experience with message development, health and social marketing, and health communications campaigns. A facilitator lead the group through a series of questions aimed at creating or refining elements of the MDT. Data from the panelists was collected electronically using Group System's Thinktank® Software, a format that made it possible for each participant to answer each question and react to others input in real time. Panelists prioritized responses to ensure that the MDT incorporated elements considered most critical by experts. An MDT prototype was created based on the identified model and expert input. It will be evaluated by the expert panel and undergo user testing prior to the 2011 CDC-NCHM Conference. 

Conclusions: CDC DCPC and ORISE used an evidence-based and expert-recommended guided approach to create the Message Development Tool. The model on which the tool is based and a demonstration of the MDT will be presented during this Panel discussion.

Implications for research and/or practice: Health communication best practice stresses the importance of basing message development on formative research. The literature has identified essential variables of a health message. However, in real-world practice, where time is limited and approval channels can run deep, research and constructs are often lost. It is anticipated that the MDT will assist federal, state and local health communicators to create and defend better messages by using key variables tailored to their health problem and target audience.