Using electronic technology for Taenia solium education: educating the educators.

In Taenia solium endemic areas, intervention programs include a variety of actions aimed to improve sanitary infrastructure and environment, pig husbandry conditions, detection and treatment of tapeworm carries and cysticercosis cases, among others. For a successful long-term effect, these actions must be associated with community participation and health education programs. Prior to designing/conducting health education programs tailored to specific populations, individuals involved in delivering education, as well as other professionals, students, and community leaders, must be well prepared, their knowledge increased, updated or strengthened. Educators must first be well educated to convey clear and accurate messages. Current electronic technology provides invaluable resources for teaching and learning. Learners using electronic materials benefit from a dynamic, non-linear and flexible interaction that can render long lasting effects compared to traditional passive methods. Electronic resources also provide the capability of producing one standardized template, versatile enough to be adapted, translated, modified, and updated. In this presentation, we introduce our preliminary work on the first interactive media presentation on T. solium which will hopefully, soon, become an interactive tutorial that could be utilized in health education in both developing and developed countries.