The Pulse: A Guide to Health Communication

The Pulse is a free, online course for organisations and individuals interested in using media to inspire people to lead healthier lives, and is aimed particularly at those who are new to health communication. Through a series of activities and films, the course teaches practical tools about making health communication interventions that work, and seeks to build skills in designing and producing content that captures large audiences’ attention and encourages them to act.

The course includes:

1. Activities and films on health communication and features a film with academic experts - Dr. Val Curtis from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Dr. Robert Hornik from the Annenberg School for Communication - talking about the elements and processes that go into making successful health communication interventions.
2. Examples of successful health communication campaigns
3. Tools and Resources to help in the development of health communication projects, which include:

• Fact sheets about various health issues such as HIV and AIDS, family planning, nutrition, child health, and sanitation;
• Templates and forms to help in the research and planning phase; and
• Training and guidance documents, including two booklets: The Pulse Guide [2015 edition] and Practical Action [2015 edition]

The Pulse course is funded by the United Kingdom (UK)’s Department for International Development.