ABSTRACT
Over the past 25 years, scholars who study health communication and related areas have learned a considerable amount about designing, implementing, and evaluating health communication campaigns in developing countries. One overarching lesson is that there is no single path to success when undertaking this type of endeavor. Each community requires diff ering levels of community involvement, resource sustainability, and organizational support. Data may or may not be available on prior successes, and when available, the explanatory evidence may be mixed. Threaded among campaign populists will be dissenting voices. For each success, failures will be noted. Health communication scholars may be asked to plan interventions without a clear understanding of preexisting communication diff erences within and among the target audiences they are there to serve. In short, health communication planners working in developing countries are global adventurers. The purpose of this chapter is to review some of the important resources that have been developed to increase the likelihood of creating successful health communication messages in this context.
