Abstract
M.A. (Strategic Communication)
The Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa (HSFSA) plays a role in relieving the burden of cardiovascular diseases in South Africa (SA). Cardiovascular diseases form part of the growing epidemic of chronic diseases in the country with 1 in every 5 deaths in SA caused by the diseases. Although there are gradual advancements in SA healthcare, unhealthy lifestyles characterized by excessive alcohol consumption, smoking, poor diets and a lack of exercise are contributing factors to the increase of the diseases. SA millennials have become increasingly vulnerable to cardiovascular diseases due to their unhealthy lifestyle choices. Additionally, the lack of effective preventative engagement creates poor health literacy whilst maintaining the growing epidemic.
Despite the SA healthcare system that is already burdened by the epidemic, chronic disease-focused health Not-for-profit organisations (NPO’s) can play a crucial role in addressing these chronic diseases because they focus on promoting their diagnosis, treatment and prevention. However, health NPO’s rely on linear, rationalistic and one-size-fits-all traditional health communication approaches that fail to influence millennials’ health behaviour change. It is proposed that a strategic communication approach to health activism would be ideal to reduce or eradicate the increasing burden of cardiovascular diseases amongst SA millennials because the approach requires adopting a non-linear, collaborative, stakeholder-centered approach to influence millennials’ health behaviour change for the prevention of the chronic diseases. These principles resonate with millennials who value open communication that acknowledges them as individuals and collaborates with them to change their health behaviour.
The study aims to understand how a health-focused NPO uses social media activism to mobilise offline health activism for chronic diseases amongst SA millennials. Permission to conduct the study was granted by the Research Ethics Committee at the University of Johannesburg. A literature review was conducted to explore health NPOs, SA millennials as health activist stakeholders and a strategic communication approach to health activism. For the empirical study, a qualitative single case-study research design employing three data collection methods was used. These included six semi-structured telephonic interviews with the HSFSA employees possessing expert knowledge on the topic; a social media qualitative content analysis of the HSFSA’s Facebook and Twitter platforms, and a document study of the HSFSA’s 2017 annual report was used.
The research findings of this study reveal that the HSFSA as a health NPO experiences challenges of a lacking marketing budget and poor health literacy about cardiovascular chronic diseases amongst SA millennials. From the research participants it was also revealed that it is...