THE ISSUE OF COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCES IN THE PUBLIC HEALTH SPECIALISTS TRAINING

Abstract

The aim of the work – to find out the role and the place of communication issues in the training programs of public health specialists at European and other world-class universities in order to substantiate the relevant educational regulations in Ukraine.

The main body. Communication skills in public health are used in such fields as education, medical journalism, outreach in the media, the show business, interpersonal communication, communication within organizations and between them, information dissemination on risks, crises and emergencies, social communication and social marketing.

Possible forms of communication are multimedia, interactive, traditional. The choice of communication form should take into account target audiences, cultural assumptions, etc., and should include interpersonal communication, the coverage of a small population base, mass-communication channels, considering television, radio, newspapers. Current forms of communication are the usage of blogs, video sharing, mobile phone service, online forums. Herewith, the communication process should be preceded by the adaptation of information about wide range of public health issues to the specifics of concrete consuming publics.

Public health specialist should know and master communication technologies as it is a guarantee of effective counteraction to unhealthy behavior pattern and unwholesome products, including alcohol and tobacco.

The feedback receipt is critical to successful implementation of communication in public health and it requires the ability to listen, receive and analyze information about people’s perceptions of messages for improving communication processes.

The study of Bachelors’ and Masters’ Public Health Training Programs revealed that a considerable amount of time was spent on studying communication in Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, and in the USA.

Conclusions. Mastering of communicative competence is essential for the effective performance of public health specialists, as evidenced by the conceptual conditions of a number of world-class strategic documents and manifestos.

As the Association of Public Health Schools of the European Region listed communicative competences on the main competences of public health, it indicates the need to ensure the communicative competence acquisition in the process of public health staff training.

Formation of curricula and training programs for Bachelors and Masters in Public Health in Ukraine should be carried out taking into account the national context, international organizations recommendations and best foreign experience.