Soap Operas for Social Change to Prevent HIV/AIDS [Guide]

This guide is designed to be used by journalists and media personnel to plan and execute the production and broadcast of Entertainment Education serial dramas for HIV/AIDS prevention, especially among women and girls. This is part of a strategy by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)to reinforce the capacities of journalists at the country level to prepare them to be informed agents of gender- and culturally-sensitive HIV prevention programs.

This guide is meant to serve as a reference tool during training workshops for journalists and media personnel, and other institutions interested in reinforcing the capacities of journalists to convey effective messages on HIV/AIDS prevention.

The guide seeks to familiarize journalists and media personnel with the methodology for social change of the famous social drama specialist Miguel Sabido of Mexico, using entertainment-education format serial dramas broadcast over mass media channels (such as radio and television).

The guide includes sections on:

• How the Sabido Methodology differs from other forms of Entertainment-Education.
• Steps in the Development of a Sabido-Style Drama
• Formative Research
• The Issues List, Moral Framework and Values Grid
• Advisory Committee and Technical Review Committee
• Training of Producer and Scriptwriters
• Pre-Testing of Pilot Episodes
• Writing and Production
• Monitoring
• Summative Research (Impact Evaluation)

Last modified: August 5, 2021

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