An entertainment-education radio soap opera introduced in Tanzania in 1993 was evaluated by means of a field experimental design in which the radio program was broadcast by seven mainland stations of Radio Tanzania. An eighth station broadcast alternative programming from 1993 to 1995, its listenership serving as a comparison area in which contemporaneous changes in family planning adoption were measured. The soap opera was subsequently broadcast nationwide from 1995 to 1997. Data about the effects of the radio soap opera were gathered in five annual surveys of about 2,750 households in the comparison and the treatment areas and from a sample of new family planning adopters in 79 health clinics. The soap opera had strong behavioral effects on family planning adoption; it increased listeners' self-efficacy regarding family planning adoption and influenced listeners to talk with their spouses and peers about contraception.
Maternal death has implications for the entire family, although few, if any, interventions have addressed the role that the husband could play in his wife's pregnancy and delivery. The Suami SIAGA Campaign in Indonesia was a multi-media entertainment-education intervention, implemented in 1999/2000, that targeted husbands with messages about birth preparedness. The present paper presents the effects of this campaign (1) on the acquisition of new knowledge by husbands about birth preparedness, and (2) on husbands' action toward becoming an alert husband (a Suami SIAGA). When husbands were directly exposed to the messages from the Suami SIAGA campaign, new knowledge gain and birth preparedness activities occurred. However, the interaction of direct exposure to the campaign and the interpersonal communication stimulated by the campaign about Suami SIAGA was an even stronger predictor of knowledge gain and birth preparedness actions. Limitations of the study included post-only measures and a relatively short time period between the intervention and impact evaluation. We suggest that communication campaigns to educate husbands and to stimulate discussion about the innovative concept of birth preparedness may contribute to improved birth outcomes in Indonesia.
The present article explores the role that audience involvement plays in the effectiveness of entertainment—education programs. Utilizing data from a popular 104—episode entertainment—education radio soap opera from India, Tinka Tinka Sukh, it argues that the concept of audience involvement is multidimensional, and serves as a mediator for promoting behavior change. Audience involvement is characterized as being composed of two dimensions: (a) affective—referential involvement, and (b) cognitive—critical involvement. Involvement appears to be a precursor for increasing self—efficacy and collective efficacy, and in promoting interpersonal communication among individuals in the audience.
It is often noted that some individuals become aware of a mass media program's messages through discussions with other individuals. However, the extent to which indirect exposure occurs, and its influence on behavior, are somewhat unclear. This study examines the role of indirect exposure in extending the reach of a family planning mass media campaign in Nepal. Sociometric data, gathered from nearly all women between the ages of 15 and 49 years living in six villages in Dang District, Nepal (N = 667), assessed indirect exposure to the radio program. Indirect exposure was extensive; half of all respondents were indirectly exposed to the program's messages and the overall reach of the program increased from 50% to 75% when indirect exposure was considered. Members of community groups had higher levels of direct exposure to the radio program and more extensive and diverse social networks, allowing them to serve as a conduit for these messages into the wider community. While direct exposure to the radio program appeared to influence family planning knowledge, indirect exposure was more strongly associated with contraceptive use. These findings suggest that program evaluations that ignore indirect exposure underestimate the impact of a mass media program on behavior.
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