[Strategic information for social interventions in health]

In public health, social interventions for promoting health and preventing disease are common. Bibliographical investigations in the fields of Health and Information Science showed that the strategic use of information is based on power, knowledge and ethics. This paper shows the importance of information as an element of change in the cognitive structure of the individual, member of a community, where these actions take place. To this purpose, informational strategies were created based on concepts coming from areas such as Communication, Linguistics, Cognition, Sociology, Anthropology and Education. These strategies act at the moment the information is transferred; they use the appropriate speech pattern; facilitate the understanding of the information by the individual; put the information into context; act upon the imposition and legitimation of the information; and help educating the individual through information. Considering all these aspects, information used in a strategic way will be a link between health professionals and the communities they intend to change.