title: In the eye of the beholder: pretesting the effectiveness of health education materials.
abstract: Health educators at the University of Massachusetts evaluated five posters to determine whether students comprehended, identified with, and were motivated by the messages, which dealt with aspects of safer sex, alcohol use, and stress management. Pretesting, they suggest, provides an opportunity for remedying design flaws before distributing materials, improving effectiveness, and saving money by assuring that the target audience receives the intended message. Six suggestions for improving effectiveness and acceptability of printed health education materials are offered.
authors.affiliation: Division of Health Education, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hirsch
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Edelstein
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health; D001296:Audiovisual Aids / Q000592:standards*; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006266:Health Education / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D013333:Student Health Services / Q000592:standards*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires