An analysis of printed education materials and its designs that trigger intended health behavior among young adults in Malaysia / Muhammad Nur Firdaus Nasir

A non-communicable diseases is a disease that is not transmissible directly from one person to another. The World Economic Forum mentioned that it has also threatened the country's economic development. In Malaysia, the non communicable disease has been reported among adults as the leading cause of premature deaths. If early prevention is not well developed, Malaysia will be a burden in upcoming years. Although the researcher has shown that data regarding non-communicable diseases are increasing and shocking, the trend shows that people are unaware of their body health. Therefore, health care professionals are encouraged to use written educational materials with patients to reinforce and supplement the information that is provided orally. When only oral information is provided, much of that information is forgotten. As a result, written patient education materials are frequently used by health professionals and desired by patients, and they offer benefits such as portability and message consistency. However, many printed education materials are not designed in a way that increases their chances of being read, understood, and acted on. Although the high reading level of printed materials and low literacy of the individual may become barriers to understanding health information, not all health professionals are aware of these issues. Most health education materials are produced with inadequate attention to their suitability for the intended audience. Thus, the suitability of printed education materials to influence health behaviour intention is still unclear. Additionally, limited studies explore factors influence the suitability of printed educational materials. Therefore, this research attempts to fill this gap by incorporating varying understanding of the suitability of printed education materials and other factors that impact the effectiveness of printed education materials in promoting health behaviour intention. The quantitative study (questionnaire survey) was conducted to achieve the empirical objectives. Suitability Assessment of Materials (SAM) is implemented as the underpinning theory of the study and supported by Health Behaviour Theory to provide in-depth understanding of intention to health behaviour. The findings show that there is a significant positive relationship between the design of printed education materials, attitude and subjective norms towards health behaviour intention.