Episode 41 (Associate Professor Ben Jackson)

The science of persuasion and communication

When it comes to communication, crafting messages, harnessing the power of people and providing support around healthy living through health promotional strategies, it is important to understand that there is a whole body of work and science behind motivation. 

Evidence tells us that those services/programs/initiatives are only useful if people adhere to and engage with them. A wonderful example of this is the work that has been done by PAHL (Psychology of Active Healthy Living) 

https://www.jcu.edu.au/pahl 

The science and research PAHL undertakes is around understanding what helps or stops people from engaging in health promotion initiatives. For example, losing weight, eating better, being more physically active. 

PAHL’s work is in the development and delivery of the health promotion initiatives, underpinned by Ben and his team’s understanding of motivation, communication and persuasion, social support and resilience/dealing with setbacks. 

So what we talked about with Ben in this episode is the science of persuasion and communication. There are some fantastic key takeaways that we can incorporate into the way we, as clinicians, communicate information, the evidence for why we do what we do along with the careful guidance we provide for families that we work with.