Communicating with external publics: Managing public opinion and behavior

In health care organizational settings public relations plays an important role in managing relationships with a variety of external publics as well as with society in general. Managing these relationships involves both reactive and proactive communication activities. Reactively, public relations responds to public issues, crises and concerns, as well as inquires from the media and other social institutions. Proactively, public relations engages in deliberately planned campaigns and programs to inform, influence or change behaviors of targeted publics for a wide range of strategic purposes. These purposes include managing the organization\u27s image and identity; influencing public policies; supporting health promotion and education; promoting fund raising and volunteerism; and managing organizational change and crises. © 2007 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved