Mediations on Public Health information: a study about dengue

Abstract

The issue of (the) diseases risk and prevention emerges in a clearer way when we start with a concrete case, such as the dengue epidemic registered all over Brazil and its media coverage, as well as the strategies of disclosure and information to the population. This paper aims to bring subsidies for thinking about the relations between the Public Health and the media, as well as for the formulation and disclosure of information for citizens regarding health. The research focuses  on information disclosure about the dengue fever epidemic in the city of Ribeirao Preto, SP. The theory of social representations was used as the main reference in this research, which seeks to capture the population social awareness regarding this disease. The used method was submission of questionnaires based on the Discourse of the Collective Subject (DSC), characterized by the organization and tabulation of qualitative data of (originally) verbal nature. In order to analyze and to set (provide a context for) such data into context, references were made to some theories regarding reflexivity, epidemiological risk and the Information Society. At the end, it emphasizes the importance of mediators so that the process of mediating information about health and specifically about dengue can present a good performance.