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Information, education, and communication (IEC) is a collection of techniques for exchanging and sharing of information, attitudes, ideas, or emotions with the goal of promoting the adoption of a new behavior by members of a specific target group (Centre for Health Promotion, 1996; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1996; Rogers & Storey, 1987). IEC gives people the power to choose for themselves. If the IEC package is effective, members of the target group can begin to take control of their own behaviors, based on a radically altered assimilation of information about the possible consequences of their actions (Bandura, 1977, 1986, 1997; Becker, 1974; Janz & Becker, 1984; Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975; Glanz & Rimer, 1995). However, in order to be effective, IEC messages must first be accurate, and second, must reach and be understood by target audiences. 'Bad' IEC can lead people to make ill-informed decisions that can be damaging to their health and well-being, just as ``good'' IEC can help them to make well-informed decisions that can positively influence their lives. This article describes the process of development and implementation of the national IEC health strategy in Mali, a process that resulted in the creation of integrative structures through which IEC specialists throughout that nation now work with greater effectiveness. More importantly, the article provides a case study of the importance of organizations and organizational relationships in strategy design and implementation. The case study shows how the highly successful application of the strategy development and implementation process in Mali enabled IEC technicians to do 'good' IEC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution to the 40th Anniversary celebration of the Diffusion of Innovations Theory discusses three health communication projects which applied the tenets of Diffusion of Innovation Theory with differing results: Using voodoo practitioners to pave the way for HIV/AIDS education in Haiti. A food-based approach to improving Vitamin A nutrition in Nepal. Diffusion at the horizon of life: The difficulties of communicating reproductive health to youth in Mali. The article illustrates a spectrum of circumstances in which diffusion theory has been applied, in order to show the application of the theory with different populations or target groups, in different sectors, and in different regions of the world.