Menu
The Center for Health Educommunication – Mario Schenberg Institute (CES-IMS) aims to promote the acquisition, improvement, or change of healthy habits, foster awareness of rights and duties, and empower people to combat disinformation.
Educommunication–also known as media education or media literacy (‘educomunicação’ in Portuguese)–is a term oficially recognized by the Brazilian Academy of Letters (ABL).
For the Brazilian Association of Researchers and Professionals in Educommunication (ABPEducom), it is understood as a guiding framework for practices that merge social, educational and communicative dimensions.
These practices promote participatory engagement across schools, NGO-led initiatives, and community spaces, enabling collaborative management of communication resources.
In health literacy, Educommunication is an emerging praxis, still in early-stage research—especially in fostering robust participatory engagement.
People may have access to health facilities, professionals (doctors, dentists, nurses, psychologists, physiotherapists), diagnostics, medications, and other resources. Yet access alone does not guarantee cognitive or social empowerment.
In other words, healthcare accessibility alone does not ensure that users adopt, improve, or change their habits—whether in health promotion, disease prevention, or proper self-care. Nor does it foster active awareness of rights and responsibilities, much less equip individuals to combat health disinformation.
“Educommunication, when applied to health literacy, can decisively address these challenges”. (Wittlin, F., 2023. Master’s thesis, National School of Public Health, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation [ENSP/Fiocruz]).
I hold a medical degree from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) and serve as a consultant for Viramundo, a nonprofit organization that advances health and ecological sanitation through health literacy programs.
I founded and coordinated HEED (Health and Environmental Education Diploma), an international extension program at Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), implemented in partnership with Viramundo NGO. This initiative received honorable mention for the Victor Valla Award from Brazil’s Ministry of Health.
As Health Program Advisor (2014–2016) and later Manager (2018–2021) at Sesc RJ (Social Service of Commerce of Rio de Janeiro), I oversaw nutrition, dental care, health education, and women’s health initiatives. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I provided voluntary medical care to dozens of Fecomércio RJ System employees, executives, and their families.
I hold a Master of Public Health (2023) from the National School of Public Health at Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (ENSP/Fiocruz), where my thesis specialized in educommunication strategies for health literacy. My research includes developing ‘Your Health in 3 Takes’ (YH3T), an innovative educommunicative visual tool, accompanied by a publicly available e-manual. (For access, contact me at flawitt@schenberg.org.br.)
I am committed to advancing health promotion and healthcare delivery through innovative participatory health literacy strategies.