Peddling a semiotics of fear: a critical examination of scare tactics and commercial strategies in public health promotion

This study critically examines the ways in which the nationwide Diabetes UK/Tesco public health promotion campaign (2013-2014) sought to raise awareness of Type 2 diabetes. Conducting a multimodal critical discourse analysis of six campaign images, we identify the presence of fear-inducing, stigmatising and commercial strategies, through which the campaign emphasises the dangers of diabetes and advocates personal responsibility for assessing both individual and others’ risk of the disease. Specifically, three discursive techniques are deployed in this campaign to achieve these ends: (1) the depiction of grief and amplification of diabetes-related danger, (2) the promotion of diabetes risk and responsibilization of individuals for their health, and (3) the commercial branding and framing of the Diabetes UK/Tesco partnership as providing tools for diabetes prevention and management. Our findings raise concerns about the moral legitimacy of using fear-inducing and commercial strategies in public health campaigns, strategies which do little to address the environmental factors which are associated with increasing rates of the disease

Supporting health promotion practitioners to undertake evaluation for program development

BackgroundThe vital role of evaluation as integral to program planning and program development is well supported in the literature, yet we find little evidence of this in health promotion practice. Evaluation is often a requirement for organisations supported by public funds, and is duly undertaken, however the quality, comprehensiveness and use of evaluation findings are lacking. Practitioner peer-reviewed publications presenting evaluation work are also limited. There are few published examples where evaluation is conducted as part of a comprehensive program planning process or where evaluation findings are used for program development in order to improve health promotion practice. DiscussionFor even the smallest of programs, there is a diverse array of evaluation that is possible before, during and after program implementation. Some types of evaluation are less prevalent than others. Data that are easy to collect or that are required for compliance purposes are common. Data related to how and why programs work which could be used to refine and improve programs are less commonly collected. This finding is evident despite numerous resources and frameworks for practitioners on how to conduct effective evaluation and increasing pressure from funders to provide evidence of program effectiveness. We identify several organisational, evaluation capacity and knowledge translation factors which contribute to the limited collection of some types of data. In addition, we offer strategies for improving health promotion program evaluation and we identify collaboration of a range of stakeholders as a critical enabler for improved program evaluation. SummaryEvaluation of health promotion programs does occur and resources for how to conduct evaluation are readily available to practitioners. For the purposes of program development, multi-level strategies involving multiple stakeholders are required to address the organisational, capacity and translational factors that affect practitioners’ ability to undertake adequate evaluation

Biogenic Magnetite Formation through Anaerobic Biooxidation of Fe(II)

The presence of isotopically light carbonates in association with fine-grained magnetite is considered to be primarily due to the reduction of Fe(III) by Fe(III)-reducing bacteria in the environment. Here, we report on magnetite formation by biooxidation of Fe(II) coupled to denitrification. This metabolism offers an alternative environmental source of biogenic magnetite