Biomedical subjects

James W Dearing

Publications and source records attributed to James W Dearing.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

A convergent diffusion and social marketing approach for disseminating proven approaches to physical activity promotion.

Approaches from diffusion of innovations and social marketing are used here to propose efficient means to promote and enhance the dissemination of evidence-based physical activity programs. While both approaches have traditionally been conceptualized as top-down, center-to-periphery, centralized efforts at social change, their operational methods have usually differed. The operational methods of diffusion theory have a strong relational emphasis, while the operational methods of social marketing have a strong transactional emphasis. Here, we argue for a convergence of diffusion of innovation and social marketing principles to stimulate the efficient dissemination of proven-effective programs. In general terms, we are encouraging a focus on societal sectors as a logical and efficient means for enhancing the impact of dissemination efforts. This requires an understanding of complex organizations and the functional roles played by different individuals in such organizations. In specific terms, ten principles are provided for working effectively within societal sectors and enhancing user involvement in the processes of adoption and implementation.

Cooperative Behavior↗

PubMed2004

Improving the state of health programming by using diffusion theory.

Year by year, the gaps between what is known about behavior change and what is actually practiced in social programs grow larger, especially for community-based programs intended to help minority populations, the poor, and those living in inner-city and rural areas. Internationally, such gaps between the state of knowledge and the state of practice lead to disparities in health, education, and development among societal groups, demographic sub-populations, communities, and countries. Data about disparities are used as evidence of inequality. Here, I discuss uses of certain diffusion of innovation theory-based concepts to systematically redress problems of inequality and disparity by reducing the differences between evidence and practice in social programs that are implemented by intermediaries (practitioners) and communicated by them to needy populations. The emphasis here is on the integrated application of knowledge about innovation attributes, opinion leadership, and clustering from diffusion theory to achieve the objective of more extensive and more rapid diffusion of especially effective programs. A set of implementation steps are offered for researchers, funders of international health programs, and the intermediaries who implement health programs.

Communication↗

PubMed2003

Local newspapers, community partnerships, and health improvement projects: their roles in a comprehensive community initiative.

To understand local media's role in a community health initiative, a content analysis of 1,709 paragraphs from 173 news articles and editorials was undertaken. The articles were from three local newspapers, one in each of three communities. Analyses focused on article content combined with reflective personal interviews with local campaign directors. Results suggest that local campaign staff can be successful using commercial media to achieve objectives. Surprisingly, most coverage was not about projects with observable and easily identifiable benefits for local residents, but rather partnerships among influential residents engaged in decision-making about such projects. We conclude that the politics of resource distribution is more newsworthy to local journalists than tangible topics like access to health information, insurance coverage, and service provision.

Attitude to Health↗