This study evaluated the effects of a health-related fotonovela about crystal meth (S-methamphetamine hydrochloride) among "Colored" people (an ethnic label for people of mixed race) in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Crystal meth use is most common among Colored people in this province and it is considered a major social problem. The fotonovela was compared to a no-message control group and a traditional brochure in a randomized controlled trial (N ¼ 303). The fotonovela outperformed the control condition for knowledge level and it outperformed the traditional brochure on intention toward starting conversations about crystal meth. Especially readers with relatively low levels of education clearly preferred the fotonovela over the traditional brochure.

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.

Despite the growing public awareness about the burden of HIV and AIDS in Namibia, HIV Counselling and Testing (HCT) uptake remains to be low. The aim of this study was to explore factors influencing the HCT uptake amongst correctional officers deployed at Elizabeth Nepemba Correctional Facility (ENCF) in Rundu, Namibia. The study employed a quantitative approach, and a sample of 31 participants was constituted who completed self-administered questionnaires. This research focused on correctional officers deployed at ENCF. Participants were randomly selected from the employee list. It was found that the majority of the respondents (74%) accessed HCT services in the past twelve months, of which 31% indicated having tested at Elizabeth Nepemba HCT Facility. Factors such as confidentiality and privacy issues, the condition of service and staff competency along with accessibility, fear of rejection from families and friends, information provision, education, future planning and risky behaviour were identified as having an influence on HCT uptake. This study concluded that there is a need for more awareness campaigns, information dissemination and involvement of stakeholders to address HIV-related issues for correctional officers at ENCF. This study recommends that the AIDS Committee and employee wellness department should spearhead workshops, information dissemination and educational programmes for correctional officers, so to improve their visibility and influence as well as improve HCT uptake. In addition, Regular workshops and seminars should be organized to empower correctional officers with the knowledge and skills related to HIV behavioural change; as well as resolve any issues related to fear of stigma or rejection.

Communication and information studies university of Groningen c.j.m.jansen@rug.nl abstraCt Two related studies were performed aimed at finding if and how prior knowledge of threat and efficacy information in a fear appeal message is associated with message outcomes (attitude and behavioural intentions). the extended Parallel Process model (ePPm) (Witte 1992; 1998) served as theoretical framework for one study about a chlamydia fear appeal (n = 57) and another about an alcohol abuse fear appeal (n = 59). Findings from both studies suggest that __________________________________________________________________________________________________ This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-commercialNo Derivatives Licence (http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. Davis and JansenThis may come as a surprise prior knowledge of threat information is hardly relevant for readers' reactions to a fear appeal message. Prior knowledge of efficacy information, however, proved to play a more important role, most often in a positive way. Findings from both studies furthermore suggest that the ePPm may be incorrect in assuming that individual differences -in this case, in prior knowledge -may only affect fear appeal outcomes in an indirect way, that is through different perceptions of threat and efficacy.

This study set out to establish to what extent an HIV-related awareness workshop involving German adolescents at a secondary school in Brandenburg can help to increase knowledge levels about this disease. Only a few studies have explored what German youths know about HIV, with none so far evaluating a workshop aimed at increasing HIV-related knowledge levels among this cohort. In a pre-test post-test design, changes in participants’ knowledge levels related to the risk of HIV transmission associated with different types of exposures or behaviors such as unprotected sex, mother-to-child-transmission, blood transfusions, and shaking hands were assessed. Previous studies have shown that German youths lack knowledge in this regard. From pre-test to post-test, there was a statistically significant increase in knowledge levels about the risk of HIV transmission. However, knowledge levels about the risk of HIV transmission was relatively low. An average of 59.2% questions were answered correctly at pre-test vs. 68.1% of questions at post-test. The present study underlines that an awareness workshop can be a useful tool to improve knowledge levels about the risk of HIV transmission among youths. However, the results also revealed that there is still some work to be done to educate young Germans about the basic facts around HIV/AIDS. Although HIV incidence rate in Germany has been slightly decreasing, there is a growing number of new infections among people who are unaware of their HIV status – while research shows that youths in this country are seemingly complacent about the danger of HIV/AIDS, and often do not use condoms during sex.