Health Communication Action on WhatsApp based on the Digital Profile of People with Hypertension and Diabetes
DOI: 10.15343/0104-7809.201944012022
Keywords:
Chronic Noncommunicable Diseases. Health Communication. Health Education.Abstract
Chronic noncommunicable diseases are the cause of a large number of deaths in Brazil and require new approaches to
health education and communication, including incorporating digital technologies. However, social disparities and access to
these technologies make the design of health education campaigns and interventions a challenge. Therefore, the objective of
this study was to evaluate the digital profile of SUS users, patients with hypertension and Diabetes Mellitus (DM) to develop
a health communication strategy considering the profile of these users. 499 individuals were interviewed in Maringá-Paraná
and of these 57 were diabetic, 280 were hypertensive and 162 were diabetic and hypertensive. For the creation of content,
the principles of design, software for graphic and audio creation, as well as guidelines for the development of health content
on adherence to drug therapy were used. It was observed that 32.87% of the participants belonged to the age group of
50 to 59 years old, with 64.93% being female. Regarding the users’ digital profile, 81.56% have social networks, of which
WhatsApp (95.79%) and Facebook (68.54%) were the most popular. The data allowed to define a target audience, persona
and vehicle to be used in the intervention (WhatsApp). 58 images, 14 audio files and 49 text messages with health education
content were originally produced by the team. The present study pointed to the use of WhatsApp’s multimedia resource with
a focus on images and audios that would meet the socioeconomic profile of the target population. Prior knowledge of the
recipients’ profile promotes a more assertive and objective communication of health communication campaigns, differing
from mass communication strategies that are not intended to personalize the message for the various segments of the public.
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