How is a health promotion campaign planned, run and evaluated, and what models guide it?
Planning and evaluating health promotion: the models of health promotion (Tannahill and Ewles and Simnett), how a health promotion campaign is planned and delivered, and how its effectiveness is evaluated.
A CCEA A2 4 answer on planning and evaluating health promotion: the Tannahill and Ewles and Simnett models, how a health promotion campaign is planned (aims, target group, methods, resources) and delivered, and how its effectiveness is evaluated against its aims.
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What this dot point is asking
CCEA wants you to explain how health promotion is planned and evaluated, and to know the models that guide it. The two models commonly taught are the Tannahill model and the Ewles and Simnett model. You should be able to plan a campaign (aims, target group, methods, resources) and evaluate its effectiveness.
Models of health promotion
The Tannahill model describes health promotion as three overlapping spheres: health education (improving knowledge and skills), prevention (reducing the risk of disease, often medically, including primary, secondary and tertiary prevention), and health protection (legal, policy and environmental controls such as smoke-free laws). Because the spheres overlap, many activities combine all three. The Ewles and Simnett model sets out five approaches: medical, behaviour change, educational, client-centred (empowerment), and societal (social change), which map onto the approaches studied in the previous dot point. Both models help a planner decide how to promote health for a particular aim and group.
Planning a campaign
The link to AS 3 and A2 4 is direct: a campaign chooses an approach (medical, behaviour change, educational, empowerment, social change) and a setting, and targets the barriers that stop the group changing. Choosing a setting that reaches the group (a school, workplace or community centre) is part of good planning.
Evaluating a campaign
CCEA expects you to evaluate a campaign against its aim. Use quantitative measures (changes in behaviour, attendance, survey scores, uptake rates) and qualitative feedback (participants' views), then judge what worked, what did not, and how it could be improved. This is exactly where the research skills from A2 1 apply: a valid, reliable evaluation needs good data and an honest assessment of limitations. Evaluation closes the loop, showing whether the campaign achieved its aim and informing the next one.
Try this
Q1. Name the three overlapping spheres of the Tannahill model. [3 marks]
- Cue. Health education, prevention, and health protection.
Q2. State one feature of a good campaign aim. [1 mark]
- Cue. It is specific and measurable, so the campaign can be evaluated against it.
Q3. Explain how a campaign's effectiveness can be evaluated. [2 marks]
- Cue. Measure outcomes against the aim using quantitative data (such as survey scores or uptake) and qualitative feedback.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of CCEA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
CCEA A2 4 20196 marksDescribe the Tannahill model of health promotion and its three overlapping spheres.Show worked answer →
A 6-mark answer needs the three spheres and how they overlap.
The Tannahill model describes health promotion as three overlapping spheres of activity.
Health education: communication to improve knowledge and develop the skills that support health, for example teaching about a healthy diet.
Prevention: reducing or avoiding the risk of disease, often by medical means, for example immunisation and screening (primary, secondary and tertiary prevention).
Health protection: legal, policy and environmental controls that safeguard health, for example smoke-free laws, seat-belt laws and clean-air measures.
The three spheres overlap, so many activities combine education, prevention and protection (for example a screening programme supported by education and policy).
Markers reward the three named spheres correctly described and the point that they overlap.
CCEA A2 4 20228 marksExplain how you would plan and evaluate a health promotion campaign for a chosen target group.Show worked answer →
An 8-mark answer needs the planning stages and the evaluation.
Planning: identify the health need and a clear, measurable aim (for example to increase physical activity among teenagers); identify the target group and their needs and barriers; choose appropriate methods and an approach (for example education plus a behaviour change campaign); plan the resources, setting, timing and budget; and consider ethics and how to reach the group.
Delivery: run the campaign using the chosen methods (posters, workshops, social media, events) in a setting that reaches the target group, such as a school or community centre.
Evaluation: judge effectiveness against the aim using both quantitative measures (such as changes in activity levels, attendance or survey scores) and qualitative feedback; identify what worked, what did not, and how it could be improved.
Markers reward clear planning stages tied to a target group and an evaluation that measures effectiveness against the original aim.
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Sources & how we know this
- CCEA GCE Health and Social Care specification — CCEA (2016)