Customer Reviews

Combating AIDS

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Over the years, several books, manuals, self help guides have been written on the subject of AIDS and the conduct of social campaigns. However, few studies have provided such in-depth analysis of interventions as does the present book by these authors. Their analysis suggests a radically different approach to understanding and designing communication strategies to control and prevent the spread of HIV.

The book stresses the importance of incorporating the contextual meanings of cultural, political, social, and economic factors in designing HIV prevention and control communication campaigns. The authors present a lucid and comprehensive analysis of communication interventions from several developing countries, including, Tanzania, Thailand, South Africa, Brazil, Kenya, South Africa, and India. Their analyses identify subtle and blatant message elements that could determine the success and failure of action-oriented communication interventions.

The reader is bound to be fascinated by a rich variety of creative communication strategies ranging from the oral narrative therapies in Uganda, to Buddhist monks educating people about HIV prevention in Thailand, to coffee ceremonies in Ethiopia. The sheer variety of anecdotes throughout the book highlights the authors' central premise that this debilitating disease must be fought with a unique message strategy for unique audiences.

As part of the arsenal, the authors advocate the use of entertainment-education (E-E) communication strategy. The E-E strategy calls for judicious mix of entertainment and education elements in the message strategy designed to promote behavior change. The authors cite several examples of E-E strategies that have been effectively used to promote desired behaviors. They show how humor and other contextual emotions, which are an integral part of EE strategies, can be used in communities to break the stigma associated with the epidemic. The book contains several interesting illustrations of AIDS activists, health workers and fascinating examples of successful campaigns. The compelling analysis of communication interventions is a MUST-READ for everyone that is interested and concerned with combating AIDS including healthcare professionals, outreach workers, political figures, corporations, and academicians.

I read this book in a graduate course on health communication and I was thrilled to find that it contained stories, short "vignette" text boxes and many many photos - which was extremely refreshing and very educational. Sometimes one can learn more in a short story than in a long chapter in dry academic language. I think the best way to describe this book is with these two words: thorough and humane. It provides a thorough overview of a wide range of communication interventions across the globe that have harnessed communication for HIV prevention and stigma reduction and it is humane in the way that it thoughtfully presents the personal stories of the individuals involved in and affected by those interventions. The The photos of materials used in campaigns and interventions was also very helpful. Why just talk about a strategy when you can SHOW it?