Qualification: Advanced university degree in the social/behavioral sciences (Communication, Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, Health Education…) with proven experience in the field of Communication for development, health education/promotion, community mobilization, social marketing, participatory communication, new technologies and research.
The contents are designed through participatory communication between the training authorities and the communities themselves, analyzing their opportunities and needs.
Thus this participatory communication pathway from scientists to vigías, and vigías to their friends and family (community), results in an efficient and effective way to communicate risk information (Fischhoff [1995]; Barclay et al. [2008]), consistent with similar participatory initiatives elsewhere.
While PR, marketing, advertising, branding, HR, and customer service are rapidly adopting participatory communication channels such as Twitter and Facebook, IR has (wisely) observed the landscape to ascertain the risks and opportunities present within the new SEC guidelines.
Thus, apart from spreading economic success-stories (e.g. [35, 36]) and transferring scientific knowledge to practice [37], it is crucial to work on participatory communication and decision support strategies with local actors and politics to overcome perception barriers [30, 38, 39] and to trigger local implementation projects.
UNICEF uses participatory communication strategies to increase demand for immunization.
Facilitators received seven days of training in facilitation techniques, community mobilisation and participatory and communication skills.
There, therefore, appears to be merit in trying to combine the longer term, participatory health communication approaches with the more short-term communication principle for disease outbreaks and emergencies, into a broader framework for strategic communication for disease outbreaks.
Moreover, even if more time were available for a consultation (for example during a house call or ward visit) a doctor who is unskilled in communicating with patients is unlikely to be able to engage in participatory doctor patient communication.
Modalities of training, instructional techniques and the materials developed for training showed a good choice of instructional technique and good quality training material, with some examples of excellence (participatory and communication workshops).
Participatory health communication strategies were used by the CDC model to enable penetration into socially marginalised groups, and 'collective agency' with local tribal agencies was a feature of the community empowerment model, which influenced positive breastfeeding behaviours.
