Comparative Analysis of Public Relation Strategies & Practices in Peshawar Hospitals

Abstract

This paper comparatively examines the Public Relation (PR) practices in public & private hospitals of Peshawar to investigate the practices followed by the Public Relation Officers (PROs) and the barriers they face in order to develop cordial ties between the internal and external public of health department for effective health care delivery. The Public Relation Departments (PRDs) are struggling to build strong bonds between the patients, accompaniers and health institutions. This research aims to examine the difference between PR practices of Peshawar's public and private hospitals by employing the Grunig and Hunts Four Models as a theoretical framework. The respondents were selected for the research via the purposive sampling technique. A semi-structured interview protocol was developed for this purpose. The study shows that the PROs in these hospitals follow none of the four models. It is recommended that hospitals should hire PR professionals, arrange health communication literacy seminars and conduct research for confidence building between the internal and external public of the health department.