Mass media and epidemiologic prevention

This communication presents the results of a research that evaluated the relationship between mass media communication strategies, the health institutions communication strategies and the population knowledge about epidemiologic prevention taking as study case the DENGUE  in RJ city,. Going beyond the researches that approach the message comprehention and retention and based on the theoretical perspective of the social production of meaning, the research aimed to answer three questions: how the media approaches the disease and what is the content vehiculated? how the health institutions  approach the disease and what is the content? How the population understands and apropriates the information received? The research analyzed during four  years two newspapers and two TV news programs; analyzed the flow of communication material created by the health institutions, analyzing their content and interviewed the population of lower classes inhabitants of favelas in. Under a comparative perspective the three segments were analyzed and a map of sources and flows of communication about DENGUE prevention directed to the population was created. Some findings: the circularity of the midiatic and the health institutions discourses; midiatic approach and educative materials do not take into account the existence of other discourses and only guide towards the DENGUE prevention  procediments, separating them from other health problems. The population percieves that the DENGUE is related to the bad social conditions, they know how to prevent from the mosquito but the adoption of the prevention actions is due the previous experience with the disease and not due the persuation of the educational material. The concept of social health determinants was not incorporated into the communication for epidemiological prevention, focused on a prescriptive model.