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

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.

Educating vulnerable communities about diabetes: Can a fotonovela work?

“…We also found that readers of the fotonovelas scored significantly more positively on attitudes towards speaking to a doctor or a nurse about diabetes, compared to the control condition. This finding is of interest, given the relevance of conversations about health messages to changes in beliefs, attitudes and behavioural intentions and ultimately behavioural change (Davis and Jansen, 2021).…”

“…We measured attitudes towards starting conversations about diabetes. A meta-analysis by Jeong and Bae (2017) on the effects of campaign-generated conversations concluded that such conversations have a positive, albeit small, effect on inducing campaign-related outcomes (see also Davis and Jansen, 2021). Both attitudes (‘To speak to a doctor or a nurse about my risk for diabetes, is something I .…”

“…However, there have been some positive signs for the possible effectiveness of health-based fotonovelas among underprivileged communities. Two South African fotonovelas, one addressing sexually transmitted infection (James et al, 2005) and the other focusing on ‘tik’, the local term for crystal meth (Davis and Jansen, 2020; 2021), have successfully promoted health awareness. It is not yet clear whether a new fotonovela about diabetes can also be successfully tailored for use in South Africa, especially for people in disadvantaged situations.…”