Health Hotline - Brazil
The Health Hotline was designed by Brazil's Ministry of Health to increase awareness and understanding of health issues among its citizens. It emphasises the development of a knowledge base, the promotion of access, the improvement of interpersonal communication, and the management/building of information about public health issues. These issues fall into three broad areas: legislative issues in the context of health (health rights; health reform); health information and prevention (general information about diseases and health conditions); and counseling and referral services (responses to questions about specific health behaviours and situations and guidance for further information and attention).
Communication Strategies
The health line operates 24 hours per day. From 8 AM to 8 PM the line is attended by information counselors; from 8 PM to 8AM there is a voice mail system that guides callers through the system and provides answers based on an existing database. The voice mail system also allows callers to leave their contact information for return calls.
Currently, the hotline currently operates with 80 telephone lines; given its success, it will soon be expanded to nearly 420 lines. Counselors are university students enrolled in medical or health-related training programmes. In addition to their regular school training, counselors also receive training on those issues that receive greater attention from the population and on interpersonal communication issues.
The hotline is promoted through different channels and formats: media, PSAs, schools, flyers, banners, the internet, etc. The hotline is often publicised in conjunction with soap operas or entertainment programmes that deal with specific health issues. A case in point: when a popular and beloved soap opera character was diagnosed with spine cancer, the hotline was publicised during commercial breaks. Nearly 5,000 callers with questions about spine cancer accessed the hotline over the subsequent two days.
Typically, when a person calls for health-related information, counselors use a protocol that includes questions about demographic and contact information (if callers wish to provide it), help needed, provision of information, and referral information.
Currently, the hotline currently operates with 80 telephone lines; given its success, it will soon be expanded to nearly 420 lines. Counselors are university students enrolled in medical or health-related training programmes. In addition to their regular school training, counselors also receive training on those issues that receive greater attention from the population and on interpersonal communication issues.
The hotline is promoted through different channels and formats: media, PSAs, schools, flyers, banners, the internet, etc. The hotline is often publicised in conjunction with soap operas or entertainment programmes that deal with specific health issues. A case in point: when a popular and beloved soap opera character was diagnosed with spine cancer, the hotline was publicised during commercial breaks. Nearly 5,000 callers with questions about spine cancer accessed the hotline over the subsequent two days.
Typically, when a person calls for health-related information, counselors use a protocol that includes questions about demographic and contact information (if callers wish to provide it), help needed, provision of information, and referral information.
Development Issues
Health.
Key Points
The Health Hotline of Brazil's Ministry of Health is a spin-off of a previous HIV/AIDS hotline. Given the success of that hotline, the Ministry of Health decided to expand its service to a wider range of public health issues.
The hotline receives over 8,000 calls per day. Seventy-five percent of callers request basic health and prevention information; over 50% of calls deal with HIV/AIDS and STDs. More than 50% of callers are younger than 24 years of age. Calls are monitored for further training and improvement of service; recording of contact information serves as a database for further telephone surveys on formative or evaluation research by the Ministry of Health on different health fronts.
The hotline receives over 8,000 calls per day. Seventy-five percent of callers request basic health and prevention information; over 50% of calls deal with HIV/AIDS and STDs. More than 50% of callers are younger than 24 years of age. Calls are monitored for further training and improvement of service; recording of contact information serves as a database for further telephone surveys on formative or evaluation research by the Ministry of Health on different health fronts.
Sources
"Documenting and Sharing Learning in Health Communication for Development - A Literature Review." Prepared by Rafael Obreg
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