Image
Learning objective
Students explore the purpose of health campaigns and identify the components of a successful campaign. In groups, they develop their own campaign with a sexual health theme.
Take home messages
Curriculum links
ACPPS095: Critically analyse and apply health information from a range of sources to health decisions and situations
ACPPS096: Plan, implement and critique strategies to enhance health, safety and wellbeing of their communities
International technical guidance on sexuality education
- Skills for health and wellbeing
Materials
- Student Activity Sheet: KWL – Health campaigns [one per student]
- Student Activity Sheet: Health campaign case studies [one per pair]
- Teaching Resource: Health campaign topics PowerPoint slides [one per student/group]
- Student Activity Sheet: Health campaign plan [one per student/group]
- Student Activity Sheet: Campaign evaluation [one per student/group]
Before you get started
- This is a recommended 4-6 week unit of work. Students will require access to the internet. Prior to starting the unit, check websites and associated campaigns are accessible on school networks.
- Teachers need to understand the concept of health promotion to facilitate the delivery of this learning activity.
The World Health Organization defines health promotion as
“…the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health”.1
Health promotion interventions include policy development; legislation and regulation; re-orienting health services; community development; creating healthy environments; and raising public awareness and engagement through health campaigns. This learning activity focuses on the impact of health campaigns on changing health behaviours through the use of mass media, social media and/or community events.
1 World Health Organization. Retrieved 16/07/2024
Learning activities
Exploring health campaigns
20 minutes
Students explore their understanding of health campaigns and determine what they need to know in order to develop a health campaign of their own.
- Give each student a copy of the Student Activity Sheet: KWL – Health campaigns. Allow 5 minutes for each student to complete the ‘What I know’ about health campaigns section individually. Discuss student answers as a class.
- Explain to the class what a health campaign is:
A health campaign aims to raise awareness and understanding of a health issue, and often aims to change people’s health behaviours. This can be done in a number of ways including mass media, social media and community events.
- Allow 2 minutes for each student to complete the ‘What I want to know’ section of the KWL chart. Discuss student answers as a class.
Note: Students will complete the 'What I have learnt' section at the end of this unit of work so should be encouraged to keep in a place easy to find later.
Campaign case studies
25 minutes
Access to a computer lab and internet will be required for this activity as students will investigate case studies of local and national health campaigns. They will then develop a health campaign of their own on one of five sexual health and/or relationships topics: Growing Bodies; Respectful Relationships; Staying Safe; Emotional Wellbeing and/or Diversity.
- Students form a pair or group of three. Provide each pair/group with one of the case studies from the Student Activity Sheet: Health campaign case studies.
- Ask the students to visit the campaign website and familiarise themselves with the campaign. They then complete the activity sheet by identifying the target group; the positives, negatives and issues of the campaign; and if the campaign worked.
- All students who worked on the same campaign are then joined together in a larger group to discuss their results. Each group then nominates a spokesperson to present their findings to the class.
- Explain to students that they will be developing their own health campaign on a sexual health and/or relationship topic of their choice. This can be done individually, in pairs, or in small groups.
- Display the Teaching Resource: Health campaign topics PowerPoint slides. Discuss ideas for health campaigns that can be developed for each of the topic areas. Explain that students will need to decide on a topic area and then a subject for their health campaign.
- Distribute the Student Activity Sheet: Health campaign plan to each student or group. Explain each section of the activity sheet.
- Each student/group has 4-6 weeks to research and develop their health campaign.
3-2-1 Reflection
- Students present their health campaign to the class or to others (e.g. peers, parents, school or other community members).
- Seek feedback from the audience as to how effective they thought your campaign was using a Rating Scale: use Student Activity Sheet: Campaign evaluation (students may decide to design and use their own format to seek feedback).
- Students complete the 'What I have learnt' section of their KWL chart to describe what they have learnt from this activity.
External related resources
The practical guide to love, sex and relationships
A teaching resource from the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University.
Topic 8: Authenticating online information
Accessing and evaluating information on sexual health and relationships online.
