portada > Programa > P162 - Moving from information transfer to information exchange. Evaluation and production of electronic training materials on dengue and Chagas` disease: sharing educational experiences between North and South
P162 - Moving from information transfer to information exchange. Evaluation and production of electronic training materials on dengue and Chagas` disease: sharing educational experiences between North and South
Dengue and Chagas’s disease remain major contributors to morbidity and mortality disproportionately affecting populations living in Latin America. In the interface of health, education and communication, we reflect on possible interventions that may increase the access and use of educational technologies in disease-endemic developing countries through modern Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).
The problem of access to information is a major obstacle in the public health field, especially since this field focuses predominantly on the transfer and exchange of information. Both Dengue and Chagas’s disease are morbid entities which are related to the practices and knowledge of how people live and reside in their houses and environment. In endemic areas of both diseases, it is important to have strong surveillance systems for disease control where community participation is indispensable for its effectiveness and sustainability. In order to support these community participatory actions, mu nicipalities, schools and health services must urgently be provided with educational materials for capacity training, providing scientific information about infectious diseases and its control in endemic communities. Consequently, ICTs in Health Education may have considerable impact on global health promotion, disease control and health care.
By establishing an innovative collaboration between the Wellcome Trust, Publishing Group-International Health (Wellcome-PGIH), UK and CPqRR-FIOCRUZ, Brazil, this project constructs a two-way flow of information between North and South, where shared experiences and technologies open new channels of dialogues in Health Education. We implement this collaborative strategy, by collectively evaluating a CD-ROM on Dengue, produced by Wellcome-PGIH and by designing a new CD-ROM on Chagas’s disease. Both discs will be translated to the local language (Portuguese) and evaluated with the target population (health professionals).
Design and evaluation of CD-ROMs are linked and intertwined processes. We evaluate the CD-ROMs qualitatively and quantitatively. By producing the content in Brazil with experts in FIOCRUZ and other Latin American institutions, and by evaluating the disk with the target population, we strive to create an end product more in tune to, and reflecting better the reality of, the location where the diseases are endemic. There is a need to develop educational projects which stimulate critical and creative skills, and encourage greater participation of the target audience in the design and production of new technologies. Thus, evaluation and production of new educational technology, such as electronic training materials, may serve as a facilitative tool for expanding frontiers of health information and promotion.
The problem of access to information is a major obstacle in the public health field, especially since this field focuses predominantly on the transfer and exchange of information. Both Dengue and Chagas’s disease are morbid entities which are related to the practices and knowledge of how people live and reside in their houses and environment. In endemic areas of both diseases, it is important to have strong surveillance systems for disease control where community participation is indispensable for its effectiveness and sustainability. In order to support these community participatory actions, mu nicipalities, schools and health services must urgently be provided with educational materials for capacity training, providing scientific information about infectious diseases and its control in endemic communities. Consequently, ICTs in Health Education may have considerable impact on global health promotion, disease control and health care.
By establishing an innovative collaboration between the Wellcome Trust, Publishing Group-International Health (Wellcome-PGIH), UK and CPqRR-FIOCRUZ, Brazil, this project constructs a two-way flow of information between North and South, where shared experiences and technologies open new channels of dialogues in Health Education. We implement this collaborative strategy, by collectively evaluating a CD-ROM on Dengue, produced by Wellcome-PGIH and by designing a new CD-ROM on Chagas’s disease. Both discs will be translated to the local language (Portuguese) and evaluated with the target population (health professionals).
Design and evaluation of CD-ROMs are linked and intertwined processes. We evaluate the CD-ROMs qualitatively and quantitatively. By producing the content in Brazil with experts in FIOCRUZ and other Latin American institutions, and by evaluating the disk with the target population, we strive to create an end product more in tune to, and reflecting better the reality of, the location where the diseases are endemic. There is a need to develop educational projects which stimulate critical and creative skills, and encourage greater participation of the target audience in the design and production of new technologies. Thus, evaluation and production of new educational technology, such as electronic training materials, may serve as a facilitative tool for expanding frontiers of health information and promotion.