Targeting (international health)

Targeting, a commonly used technique in international health and public health, develops a specialized health intervention approach for a specific group of people. This group of people may be identified by various factors, including geography, race/ethnicity, age, health issues, etc. Taking into account characteristics the group members share in common, only one version of program materials is used in a targeted health intervention and the intervention materials show features that the targeted population subgroup members prefer.

The idea of targeting was adapted from marketing. Target marketing tries to define a subgroup of people with shared characteristics (such as liking of certain product features) as the right group of consumers for a particular product or service. Adopting the same principle, targeted health interventions identify a group of people who are particular vulnerable to certain health risks, intervene to address their health risks and in turn, improve their health. From early to mid-1980s, most health information was mass-produced for undifferentiated audience in the form of brochures, pamphlets, and booklets. As people are increasingly aware of different characteristics within mass audiences, behavioral scientists began to develop different versions of materials for diverse population subgroups in order for health campaigns to be cost effective while still reaching large number of audiences. Scholars have suggested that compared to generic interventions which do not take into consideration the audience characteristics, targeting strategy can be more effective for health interventions.

Targeting as an intervention strategy is now widely used in the health fields and has been found to help promote behavioral change. The level of audience specificity in targeting can vary significantly, ranging from one single broad factor (e.g. interventions targeting women), to combined factors. For example, Gomez, Tan, Keegan, and Clarke (2007) identified South Asians in the U.S. who were less than age 50 and were unemployed or non-citizens as potential population subgroup for targeted mammogram utilization intervention.

Targeted health interventions have adopted different audience factors, including age (e.g. older smokers), race/ethnicity (e.g. African-Americans), socioeconomic status (e.g. low-income women), professions (e.g. health providers), health status (e.g. pregnant women and women with children, sensation-seeking adolescents).

Targeting has been widely used in international health interventions and was found to be effective in promoting behavioral change.

Ahmed, Petzold, Kabir, and Tomson (2006) identified the problem in Bangladesh that there was not enough usage of formal health services among the ultra poor population. In order to promote greater use of these health services, Ahmed and colleagues carried out a health intervention in Bangladesh targeting ultra poor households in rural areas in order to change their health-seeking behavior. The intervention provided ultra poor households with money for household activities (e.g. raising livestock, vegetables farming) to increase their income. In addition, it provided 18 months of supports, such as skill training (e.g. vegetable cultivation) and counseling information on health services, to make sure that the targeted people were able to make full use of the money and had the resources to use the health services if they chose to. This targeted intervention was found to be effective that it decreased the amount of self-care and increased the use of professional health care among the targeted population.

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