Within the research component, two research protocols were implemented on Health in the Media and The Voice of Adolescents:

Health in the Media

The first research protocol implemented under the COMSALUD project, a study on health in the media in Latin America, was organised by PAHO, FELAFACS, BASICS, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and UNESCO. The final report was prepared by Rina Alcalay, PhD & Carmen Mendoza, MS from the University of California at Davis.

The research protocol, written by Drs. Eduardo Contreras Budge, Elizabeth Fox, Mr. Max Tello Charun, and Ms. Jernnie Vasquez-Solis, was implemented in 1997. A total of 12 universities and the Ministry of Health of Panama, representing 12 Latin American countries used a standard protocol to prepare and implement a research protocol and to compile data. The project studied the presence and content of health messages in the media. Key variables included in the protocol were:

• Type of media transmitting health-related messages
• Message subject and format
• Characterisation of main messages or key issues
• Suggested arguments and type of appeal
• Audience age and socio-economic status
• Language accessibility

The study on Health in the Media was directed by Dr. Isaac Epstein (Brazil). The Principal Investigators of the COMSALUD I team include Argentina - Teresita Sallenave de Sagui; Bolivia - Hortensia Ayala de Fernandez; Brazil - Isaac Epstein; Chile - Lucia Castellon A; Colombia - Marta Lucia Betancur and Rafael Obregon; Dominican Republic - Rafael Nunez Grassals; Ecuador - Joaquin Moreno Aguilar; Mexico - Delia Crovi Druetta; Panama - Dora de Da Costa; Peru - Max Tello Charun; Uruguay - Fernando Beramendi; and Venezuela - Alicia Pineda.

"Voice of Adolescents"

The "Voice of Adolescents", the second research protocol implemented under the COMSALUD project, is a multi-study project on health, adolescents, and media in Latin America organised by PAHO, FELAFACS and the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). Implemented in September 2001, the project brought together 12 faculties of social communication to prepare and implement a research protocol to study how communications and entertainment media affect development of concepts of health, illness and prevention of disease. A special focus of the project was adolescents' use of media for information on HIV/AIDS and tobacco use prevention. Some of the questions raised were: What do adolescents know in general about health-related media coverage? What health-related messages do adolescents encounter in the media? Do adolescents use the health information they find in the media? Do adolescents find media messages useful for promotion of healthy lifestyles, healthy environments, and appropriate use of medical care services?

The study on the Voice of Adolescents is directed by Drs. Robert Valdez (United States) and Rafael Obregon (Colombia). The Principal Investigators of the COMSALUD II team include: Argentina - Christina Baccin; Colombia - Manuel Jair Vega; Dominican Republic - Rodolfo Coiscou; Ecuador - Edgar Jaramillo Salas; El Salvador - Daniel Rivas Alvarado; Guatemala - Karin Estrada; Honduras - Miguel Martinez Martinez; Mexico - Maria Martha Collignon and Luis Alfonso Guadarrama; Paraguay - Aida S. Lara Fabio; Peru - Estela Roeder; and Venezuela - Luz Neira Parra.

The Voice of Adolescents protocol will also be implemented in Puerto Rico and Spain in early 2003.

Protocol Strategies

Participating faculties used a standardised protocol for collecting data in a series of mini-focus groups with adolescents ages 12-18. This exploratory study collected information about the types of media available and used by adolescents of different ages, the types of media providing health-related messages; the nature of health-related messages and format that adolescents encounter regularly; adolescents’ perceptions of the media and the health-related messages, language accessibility and other concerns about health-related messages.

Health, Disease Prevention, Tobacco Use, HIV/AIDS, Youth.

from PAHO - "The rapid spread of new communications and entertainment media throughout Latin America has increased the expose of children and youth to a variety of lifestyle messages as well as opened up new opportunities to learn about health, illnesses, and disease prevention. With the almost universal reach of radio and increasingly television adolescents look to these media sources for all types of information and instruction. The promise of the Internet as a tool for health promotion and disease prevention among youth remains largely unfulfilled for a variety of reasons including limited access in many communities."

A final report on Phase I will be available early in 2003.