Full Title: A reflexive account of developing community health care material through the use of pre-testing methods and visual persuasion techniques

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) is a congenital syndrome caused by excessive consumption of alcohol by a mother during pregnancy. It is characterized by retardation of mental development and physical growth, particularly of the skull and face of the infant. FAS is a growing problem in South Africa, with it being rife in the townships and rural areas. The lack of public information and intervention is one of the reasons why the syndrome persists in these communities and this was also the motivation for this study.

The study will be carried out in an inland town, in tandem with an NGO based within the community, which serves the people of the community. There are two sections to the methodology of this research:

The first section was the content analysis of existing health communication material. The second section was the development of test material by soliciting feedback through focus groups, which will be sampled from the community, in order to determine the variables for more effective health communication material. The researcher will work in partnership with the local NGO on this part of
the methodology.

The focus groups give feedback regarding the visual and persuasive elements of the designed material, thus being incorporated into the development and design of the material. The study deals with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome as a subject and will discuss the methodology used in order to achieve the set aim of responding to the need for health communication material by developing the material in tandem with a community group. This study, once completed, will contribute to knowledge that will assist in preventing and dealing with the effects of the syndrome, and contribute to the improvement of health communication messages.