| Summary: | 碩士 === 慈濟大學 === 原住民健康研究所 === 92 === The major health indicators show that health problems are more serious in mountain townships of Taiwan than in other areas. The population of townships in the Haulien county account for only 8.44% of population living in this area, however the prevalence of Shigellosis ranges from 32.5% to 59.52% in the mountain townships of Hualien. The government has put many resources to prevent Shigella, and now the government must choose the most effective channels of delivering health messages that are directed toward preventing this disease. This study aims to investigate the channels of receiving health messages used by those adults living in the defined Mountain Areas of Hualien. A cross-sectional, self-administered survey of 1570 adults aged above 20 years old, living in the defined mountain areas of Hualien were interviewed by trained interviewers in this study. The in-depth interviews were conducted with 6 public health professionals and 12 local adults. The data is presented with a percentage, mean, and standard deviation. Chi-square and one-way ANOVA were applied for statistical analyzer. Regarding prevention campaign channels, the adult respondents of this study answered that television (86.9%), health workers (82.2%), family members (55.4%), and church (50.6%) were the most frequent channels by which health messages were received. Age, race, and education were significant in this question. Among those individuals aged at 60 years old and above, 84.3% of them reported that they received prevention education from their friends and family members. For all individuals below 60 years old, 92.8%-95.4% of them received health messages through media such as television programming. The non-aboriginal population and those inhabitants with higher education background reported that, magazines and newspapers are part of their major channels of receiving health message. Of the adults interviewed in this study, 84.2% believed that health workers were the most reliable health communication means, followed by television (83.9%), family members (54.1%), and church (50.2%). Age and education were significant variables in this question. Individuals aged at 60 years old and above relied mostly on family members (83.1%) for healthcare education, while those below 60 years old depended on the television (89.4%-93.1%). Finally, newspapers and magazines (57.8%) were what the college graduates living in these townships relied on. The less useful channels of health communication were farmer cooperatives (0.1%), posters (7.6%), radio (10.3%), billboards (10.4%), and internet (10.5%). These results suggest that farmer cooperatives, posters, radio, and the internet are the least effective means of delivering health messages in the defined study areas. The findings of this study suggest that the communication channels used by the target population should be identified prior to the beginning of health campaigns. This approach can substantially improve the effectiveness of health communication.
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