A Research Based Model for the Design and Delivery of Consumer Health Messages for Persons Aged 65 and Older

The design and delivery of high quality, effective health communication is a vital function of the health care system. Consequently, it is important to understand and develop methods of communicating that elicit health behavior change, promote wellness and reduce health risk (Campbell & Qunitiliani, 2006). This non-experimental study employed secondary analysis for the purpose of developing a model for the design and delivery of consumer health messages to persons 65 years of age and older. Cluster analysis technique was utilized to segment survey data into three, four, and five segment cluster solutions. A theoretical framework was developed and used to analyze the segments in relation to theoretically defensible and actionable factors with the final determination of a four segment solution. Among the defensible and actionable factors were: health status, information preferences, trust information sources, and literacy. These factors were then used to develop tailored recommendations for the design and delivery of health messages. iv DEDICATION I dedicate this dissertation to my family.

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