Investigation into the processes used in the production of printed health messages in South Africa

Abstract

Effective communication processes that include and invite audience participation are crucial forquality health care in a country. In South Africa the importance of this has been an issue ofconsiderable discussion and debate. Critics have pointed out that many of the printed healthmessages and health communication campaigns that use the printed medium in South Africa areineffective. To a great extent this failure is ascribed to the lack of audience involvement in thedevelopment and production of such messages.This article reports on an investigation undertaken to examine the extent of this problem. Theprocesses used to develop and produce printed mass media health communication messages inSouth Africa are investigated by means of an in-depth exploration of the literature discussing andevaluating the production of health messages. This is complemented by an empirical explorationof selected printed messages covering a wide range of issues.Little evidence was found in the study of the reciprocal nature of communication where producersand communicators of health messages engage in sustained dialogue with their target audiences.The conclusion is drawn that audience participation is not the norm in the production processesof printed mass media health messages in South Africa.