36th Annual Student Research Conference
Promising Health Communication Strategies for Amish and Mennonite Communities: A Review of Literature
Harmon M. Kreuger
Dr. Roberta Donahue, Faculty Mentor
When delivering community health interventions, culturally appropriate communication strategies are vital. Underserved populations in northeastern Missouri include the Amish and Mennonite communities. These communities form cultural islets that can prove challenging for health professionals to reach. A review of literature regarding the Amish, Mennonite, and other similarly fundamentally religious groups demonstrated that cultural competency, composed of familiarity with Amish/Mennonite beliefs and a working knowledge of their faith, along with campaign targeting and message tailoring, are the most common keys to successful health communication efforts with these communities. By evaluating communication strategies that seem promising, best practices for health communication with these communities may be established that allow the longstanding quality of care cap that these previously underserved and under-reached groups have lived under to be lifted.
Keywords: Health Communication, Amish, Mennonite, Cultural Competency, Messaging
Topic(s):Health Science
Communication
Sociology
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Session: 304-2
Location: SUB Georgian Room C
Time: 1:30