Local Afghan Food Risk Awareness Program for U.S. Service Members

Background: Gastrointestinal illness, such as diarrhea, commonly afflicts deployed U.S. military personnel and can adversely affect operational readiness^1,2,3,4. Time spent off-base and consumption of local food are the most important risk factors for diarrhea⁴. Recent changes in strategy and the importance of counterinsurgency operations in Operation Enduring Freedom have increased the amount of time certain Service members spend off-base ^5,6 and their exposure to local foods. Current pre-deployment training does not prepare Service members to make informed local Afghan food choices and thereby decrease their risk of foodborne illness. Development of a targeted communication campaign strategy to change local food consumption behaviors by Service members in Afghanistan as means of mitigating a major risk factor for foodborne illness is an appropriate action to attempt to alleviate the burden of foodborne illness on military operations.

Program background: A multidisciplinary team crafted a comprehensive communication package to empower Service members to make informed food choices during deployment. The team used Rogers’ innovation-diffusion theory⁷ as a framework to develop the health communication package messages and products. The communication package included seven products (five for Servicemembers and two for leaders), each designed to address various stages in Rogers’ innovation-diffusion theory⁷. The team incorporated linguistic, imagery and stylistic components associated with military service, deployment, and Service member demographics when developing each product.

Evaluation Methods and Results: Pre- and post-test surveys were developed to capture Service member knowledge and perceptions pertaining to local Afghan food consumption during deployment. Service members preparing to deploy completed a pre-test, received a briefing and were shown a number of health communication products, and completed a post-test. Data pertaining to Service member knowledge of lower vs. higher risk local Afghan foods and their perceptions of the safety of local foods were collected. Each product highlighted during the briefing was also evaluated based on its ease of understanding, completeness of content, and whether or not Service members would recommend it to others.

Conclusions: Knowledge and perceptions of Service members were measured to determine the efficacy of a health risk communication campaign and to identify areas for improvement of future communications to deployed/deploying Service members.

Implications for research and/or practice: Theory is an important guide when developing communication products and campaigns for the purpose of influencing public health knowledge, perceptions, and ultimately behaviors. Evaluation of campaigns is equally important and is recommended for shaping future communication efforts to target audiences.