Analysis of didactic and informative materials about dengue in Argentina

We present an analysis of didactic and informative materials about dengue elaborated by Health and Education Ministries of Argentina. We performed Content Analysis inquiring aspects regarding health dimensions, didactic models, epidemiological models and participation concepts. We inferred that the dominant perspective had a strong biomedical imprint within a linear multicausal model. The main focus was “breeding site reduction”, actions to diminish domestic water-holding containers where Aedes aegypti breeds. Regardless of the importance given to participation, the underlying concept was pseudo participation (the community as mere target for recommendations, without influence in decisions). Finally, despite finding constructivist intentions in the introductions of didactical materials, we identified a transmission-reception model in most activities.

Dengue; Health education; Analysis of didactic materials