the MEMO Memorandum

See attached file for instructions how to revise the MEMO Memorandum To: Professor XXXX From: Mnlife Date: 03/03/2018 Re: Audience Analysis Memo on websites for hypertension Project purpose This memo presents two websites which discuss the topic of hypertension. The American Heart Association’s website, heart.org, audience is mainly educating the general population on hypertension. This population does not have a specialized medical education on the topic, but relies on colorful prints, and direct images that are easier to understand. It contains the basic, but very helpful, information to monitor hypertension efficiently. The secondary audience for this site could be a student nurse, or a nurse assistant who wishes to follow blood pressure parameters and gather quick facts about hypertension. The other website is created by the American College of Physicians, acponline.org, whose primary content is intended for doctors and nurses. It contains many complex research articles that are meant for those with a specialized knowledge in the field of medicine. The secondary audience could be medical students doing research. Both websites are persuasive in their own right. The heart.org website uses direct, short, clear, and colorful images to capture the audience’s attention. The jargon is limited and the website uses simple sentences to engage the audience. There are also easy to follow charts that help those with a limited medical background understand the complex concepts that can sometimes accompany the topic of hypertension. There is a colorful chart that breaks down the concept of systolic and diastolic blood pressure and with the chart going from green to normal and red to denote a dangerous blood pressure. The website is very fun to follow and persuades its audience to make healthier choices and simple changes that benefit their health. In contrast, the acponline.org website does not have many colorful images. The research articles are full of technical jargon that would be very difficult for the general public to understand. The images are of complex research studies that have been done by renowned doctors. In this way, the website persuades doctors to rely on this research as it is coming from legitimate and knowledgeable sources. The website presents itself as a serious place where a doctor or a nurse can locate opinions from their counterparts. There is no doubt that even though the websites are about the same topic, they are trying to capture the attention of a very different audience. Technical writing is used in the sense that the American Heart Association focuses on their audience by being specific with pictures and diagrams that correlate directly to the population’s understanding of the importance of hypertension. The site also refers to magazines that are more appealing for its audience. On the other hand, acponline.org site uses technical writing, but in a much more complex way in which medical jargon and longer sentences such as “classes of antihypertensive agents, and the comparative benefits and harms of initiating therapy with a single antihypertensive agent or a combination of 2 agents”( Robert M. Carey et al, 2017). It is more technical as it follows the style of a professional manual of new guidelines on hypertension and updates in the field that will soon be disseminated and put into practice on the field. This clearly indicates that such terms would not be directed to the general population; also, this audience has a specific goal when reading the topic rather than searching for a basic hypertension knowledge. It takes a specific audience with heath care background knowledge to remain engaged on the topic. The American heart of association site is very concise with sentences and instead, explains with images and different colors that emphasize each important point. The American College of Physicians website uses more details, explanations, and citations to identify and connect with its audience which are professionals in healthcare such as nurses or researchers. The site is definitely using more technical writing in order to persuade its audience. In regards to advertising, both sites are very different in that the American Heart Association site has advertisements, sponsors, diagrams, picture of brochures, and magazines for an audience that has only basic knowledge of hypertension. Bayer is the main sponsor of the page and they urge the population to try their products in an effort to reduce hypertension. The acponline.org website has a lot less advertising. Its main focus is to have a writing style that is very professional, following the APA format, and presents a serious interface. The little advertising that it contains urges medical professionals to purchase subscriptions to research articles and updates in the medical field. It also provides doctors and other medical professionals with links on where they can also submit their own research articles to be published.