Soul Buddyz: spreading the word

Getting the health message across to children can be a challenge - but it can also fun and rewarding, as MRC scientists attending a Soul Buddyz workshop discovered.

No matter how much research is done about healthy habits, attitudes and behaviours, it amounts to nothing if these messages don't reach their intended target.

And what better target for intervention than children, who are busy laying the foundations for lifelong habits?

It's with this in mind that Soul Buddyz was created. Soul Buddyz, in partnership with SABC Education, is a multimedia intervention aimed at 8-12 year olds, their parents, teachers and caregivers.

Soul Buddyz, like the popular Soul City, is a mass health promotion intervention which uses television, radio and print to disseminate its messages. "We use the edutainment model, because it is accessible, popular and yet still serious enough to carry persuasive social messages," says Dr Sue Goldstein of Soul City and Soul Buddyz.

"Edutainment models promote social behaviour in a way that it fosters self reflection, leaving audiences with a sense of having choices in bringing about changes in their lives," she says.

A group of scientists, many who are either directly or indirectly involved with the MRC, was invited to a Soul Buddyz workshop late last year. The purpose of the workshop was to work out what health messages should be communicated to the 8-12 year old audience, and exactly how to do so within the edutainment model.

For several days, the workshop was home to an interesting assortment of individuals, including educators, psychologists, scientists, social workers, nurses, actors and a few very hip scriptwriters, whose task it was to translate health messages into interesting and entertaining stories that will be meaningful to the youth in South Africa. The team worked intensively with research that had been done to ensure the participation of children and the relevance of these messages to children.

"It was great fun brainstorming with a highly animated, dread locked scriptwriter about the best way to communicate and present potentially serious issues," says Dr Lesley Bourne of the MRC's Health and Development Research Group.

"As health researchers and educators our task is to convey the fact that it CAN be easy and fun to invest in behaviour that is conducive to a healthy lifestyle, even when we face economic constraints," says Dr Bourne.

"It was amazing to see what became possible when we had the opportunity to collaborate with all these creative types. It made me realise that scientists don't have to work in isolation," she said.

According to Dr Goldstein, the outcome of the workshop was a message brief that is now being used to guide the development of a television series, a radio series and print material.