| Course | PHE 330 Public Health Education and Communication |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 1 |
| Paper type | undergraduate discussion post on why health warnings fail |
| Length | About 340 words, 3 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Southern New Hampshire University |
| Program | BS Public Health |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for PHE 330 Module 1
Module One Discussion
Red Flag, Full Water
Last Saturday the flag at the end of our north pier was red, the waves were four feet and the beach was full. I counted more than forty people in the water within an hour. Two summers ago a nineteen-year-old from an inland city drowned a hundred yards from that flag. The flag is a public health message. Something about it is not working.
The first gap is meaning. I asked a dozen swimmers what the red flag meant. Several thought it meant a lifeguard was on duty, and others thought it was about bacteria. Fallon et al. (2017) studied rip current literacy among beachgoers in Miami Beach and found substantial gaps in people's ability to recognize dangerous currents and to understand beach warnings, and our visitors, many of whom grew up far from big water, are unlikely to know more. One woman thought it marked the deepest water.
The second gap is personal risk. Most visitors think of Lake Michigan as a lake, calm and safe, not as water with ocean-like currents. Liu and Wu (2022) studied currents that form along piers and breakwaters on Lake Michigan and assessed them for warning purposes, which confirms that our piers create a particular hazard many swimmers never imagine.
The third gap is action. The flag says danger but nothing about what to do if you are caught. Witte (1992) argued that fear messages work only when people also believe there is an effective response they can carry out; when fear is high and that belief is low, people protect themselves by dismissing the message instead of the danger. A red flag with no instructions invites exactly that.
So the problem is not that people ignore warnings out of foolishness. Our warning asks them to understand a symbol, believe a risk and change plans, without giving them a reason or a response. For classmates: what warning in your community is ignored, and which of these three gaps explains it? Fixing that is the work of this course.
References
Fallon, K. M., Lai, Q., & Leatherman, S. P. (2017). Rip current literacy of beachgoers at Miami Beach, Florida. Natural Hazards, 90(2), 601-621. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-017-3060-7
Liu, Y., & Wu, C. H. (2022). Rip currents near coastal structures in Lake Michigan: Characterization and assessment for warnings. Journal of Great Lakes Research, 48(3), 645-658. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jglr.2022.03.001
Witte, K. (1992). Putting the fear back into fear appeals: The extended parallel process model. Communication Monographs, 59(4), 329-349. https://doi.org/10.1080/03637759209376276
What the PHE 330 Module 1 instructions ask for
PHE 330 opens with a discussion about why public health messages succeed or fail. A single page with two or three APA 7 sources is plenty, and responses to classmates follow later in the week. Choose a warning or health message in your community, ideally one you have seen people ignore. Describe the message, the audience and what happened. Then analyze why it fails, separating gaps in understanding, in perceived personal risk and in knowing what to do. Use research on risk perception, fear appeals or the audience's knowledge to support each point. Avoid blaming the audience; focus on what the message asks of them. Close with your conclusion and a prompt asking peers to test one of their own local warnings.
How this PHE 330 Module 1 discussion example is built
Lake Michigan's north pier flies a red flag over waves of four feet while more than forty people swim, two summers after a visitor drowned nearby. The student asks a dozen swimmers and finds the flag misread as a lifeguard signal or a bacteria notice, matching the literacy gaps Fallon and colleagues found among Miami beachgoers. Liu and Wu's study of currents beside Lake Michigan piers shows a hazard most visitors never imagine. Witte's model explains the third gap: fear without a doable response leads people to dismiss the message. The PHE 330 post concludes that the warning asks much and offers no response, then asks classmates which gap explains a warning in their own community.
Where the PHE 330 Module 1 rubric puts the points
Graders of the first PHE 330 discussion usually look for a clearly described message and audience, analysis that separates understanding, perceived risk and action, accurate use of research on risk communication or fear appeals, a respectful view of the audience and a conclusion that points toward better communication. Posts that stand out gather a little evidence of their own, such as asking a few people what a message means. Graders appreciate concise writing and correct APA 7 citations. Responses to classmates earn credit when they identify which gap explains a classmate's example or suggest a missing response the message could include.
PHE 330 Module 1 help: the mistakes that cost points
First posts in PHE 330 tend to slip when they describe a campaign without analyzing it, blame the audience for ignoring warnings, cite research unrelated to the example or end without a lesson about communication. Some choose a message so broad, such as a national campaign, that the audience cannot be described. If your prompt asks about a successful campaign, the history of health education or a specific channel such as social media, send it with an example you know so the analysis starts from your example. A quick informal check of what people think a message means makes the post stronger. Our PHE 330 opening posts find the gap between what a message says and what its audience needs.
Get PHE 330 Module 1 written to your instructions
Send the PHE 330 Module 1 prompt and a warning or health message you have seen ignored. The post will describe the message and audience, analyze gaps in understanding, perceived risk and action with research and draw a lesson for better communication, written within about two days, free for a first request. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Southern New Hampshire University document.
More PHE 330 papers and related BS Public Health samples
- PHE 327 Module 5 Project One: The Community Assessment Plan
- PHE 101 Module 8 Discussion: Closing Reflection on the Values of Public Health
- PHE 321 Module 7 Project Two: An Integrated Plan for Screening, Treatment and Vector Awareness
PHE 330 Module 1 questions, answered
Where can I find a free PHE 330 Module 1 Discussion sample?
This page has the full PHE 330 Module 1 post, explaining why beach warning flags on Lake Michigan are ignored and what that teaches about health communication.
Why do people ignore health warnings?
Often because they do not understand the message, do not see themselves at risk or are not told an effective action they can take.
What is the extended parallel process model?
A theory holding that fear messages lead to protective action only when people also believe a response works and that they can carry it out.
Are there rip currents in the Great Lakes?
Yes. Currents, including those that form beside piers and breakwaters, can pull swimmers away from shore on Lake Michigan and the other Great Lakes.
How should a PHE 330 first discussion analyze a message?
By separating whether the audience understands it, whether they feel personally at risk and whether they know what to do, with evidence for each.