Health education and promotion and food safety

RESUMO

The thrust of interpersonal community health education is not only to develop new methods and technologies for transmitting health messages, but to more effectively utilize old media that already exist. Channels such as the family, informal clubs and gatherings in the community or the work place and trained community leaders are becoming more widely used. This públication is composed of seven Annexes. Annex I is entitled "Review of Social Science Research in Health Communications, Education and Community Participation - Analysis and Recommendations". Annexes II to VII provide some examples of what countries in Latin América and the Caribbean are doing in health education to promote safe and healthy handling of foods. It is important to note that educational materials have not taken into consideration the target audience in the design and testing processes to ensure that messages are clearly communicated, nor have the specific characteristics of the audience (education, culture, age, litercy and economic levels) been taken into consideration. Additionally, the materials included here reveal that existing community groups and structures are not utilized to the fullest extent possible, which would have helped to ensure community support and continuity for the behavior changes being sought