Deploying a Fotonovela to Combat Methamphetamine Abuse among South Africans with Varying Levels of Health Literacy

Burt Davis and Carel J. M. Jansen
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Burt Davis: Africa Centre for HIV/AIDS Management, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7602, South Africa
Carel J. M. Jansen: Department of Communication and Information Sciences, Faculty of Arts, University of Groningen, 9712 EK Groningen, The Netherlands

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 12, 1-18

Abstract: Poor health literacy in the Western Cape Province of South Africa is one of the main factors hampering methamphetamine (MA) use prevention efforts in the area, where the abuse of this drug is a major health and social problem affecting especially previously disadvantaged communities. In the first part of a two-part study, we compared a health-related fotonovela about MA to an existing brochure group and a control group. Main findings show that the vast majority of readers preferred the fotonovela over the existing brochure. This included participants from all three age groups and for both levels of health literacy (low/high) distinguished ( n = 372). Furthermore, specifically for older people with low levels of health literacy, the fotonovela outperformed the existing brochure condition for knowledge level. In the second part of the study, we found that healthcare providers ( n = 75) strongly prefer a fotonovela over an existing brochure, while this cohort viewed the potential use of fotonovelas in a health care setting as very positive. Our findings add to the promising results of an earlier fotonovela study about MA use in South Africa, providing further support for considering using narratives in health communication as a serious option to effectively communicate convincing health information about this drug to target audiences in the Western Cape Province.

Keywords: photo story; fotonovela; entertainment-education; methamphetamine; tik; substance abuse; health literacy; narratives; health information; health communication (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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