Young Adults’ Responses to an African and US-Based COVID-19 Edutainment Miniseries: Real-Time Qualitative Analysis of Online Social Media Engagement

Baker, Venetia; Arnold, Georgia; Piot, Sara; Thwala, Lesedi; Glynn, Judith R.; Hargreaves, James; Birdthistle, Isolde

doi:10.2196/30449

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 24 publications

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“…Furthermore, for some young people, getting their parents interested in watching Shuga might improve their exposure intensity. As we learn from the COVID-19 pandemic, public health players need to be innovative and adaptive, and using a combination of strategies to reach the target populations is worthwhile [ 29 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the Intensity of Exposure to MTV Shuga, an Edutainment Program for HIV Prevention: Cross-Sectional Study in Eastern Cape, South Africa

Mulwa,

Baker,

Cawood

et al. 2024

JMIR Form Res

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Background MTV Shuga is an edutainment campaign designed to equip young people with knowledge, motivation, and informed choices to protect themselves from HIV infection. From 2019 to 2020, a total of 10 episodes of a new dramatic series, MTV Shuga “Down South 2” (DS2), were broadcast via television and the internet, alongside complementary media activities. Objective This study aims to investigate whether the intensity of DS2 exposure was linked with positive HIV prevention outcomes in a setting with high HIV prevalence and relatively low levels of HIV testing. Methods We analyzed data from a web-based survey of participants aged 15 to 24 years in South Africa in 2020. The survey was promoted via social media platforms of schools, universities, and communities in Eastern Cape, South Africa. The primary exposure of interest was the intensity of exposure to DS2, measured by the number of episodes of DS2 watched on the television or the internet or listened to on the radio (out of 10 episodes). Individuals who had not watched or listened to any DS2 episode were classified according to other MTV Shuga content that they had accessed. We estimated associations between the intensity of DS2 exposure and HIV-related outcomes, including knowledge of HIV status, awareness of HIV self-testing (HIVST) and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), uptake of HIVST, and demand for HIVST and PrEP, adjusting for potential confounders using multivariable logistic regression. Results Among the 3431 survey participants, 827 (24.1%) were exposed to DS2. Specifically, 18.1% (622/3431) watched or listened to only 1 DS2 episode, and 2.4% (82/3431), 1.7% (58/3431), and 1.8% (62/3431) watched or listened to 2 to 4, 5 to 7, and 8 to 10 DS2 episodes, respectively. Increasing the exposure to DS2 was associated with improvements in most outcomes. Exposure to multiple episodes (eg, 2-4, 5-7, and 8-10) was associated with successively higher odds of knowing one’s HIV status, awareness of PrEP and HIVST, and uptake of HIVST compared with no MTV Shuga exposure, albeit with statistical uncertainty around some estimates. The interest in using HIVST or PrEP was high overall (>80%), with no measurable differences by DS2 intensity. Conclusions We found evidence consistent with a dose-response relationship between MTV Shuga DS2 exposure and outcomes, including knowledge of HIV status, awareness and uptake of HIVST, and awareness of PrEP among young people in Eastern Cape. This indicates that greater engagement with a youth-focused edutainment campaign can improve HIV testing and prevention options in a setting and population with high need. However, only a few participants accessed multiple DS2 episodes despite its availability on multiple media platforms. We conclude that there is potential to benefit more young people by increasing access to and interest in the show.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the Intensity of Exposure to MTV Shuga, an Edutainment Program for HIV Prevention: Cross-Sectional Study in Eastern Cape, South Africa

Mulwa,

Baker,

Cawood

et al. 2024

JMIR Form Res

Self Cite

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Gender-transformative HIV and SRHR programme approaches for adolescents and young people: a realist review to inform policy and programmes

Gourlay,

Walker,

Singh

et al. 2024

BMJ Glob Health

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IntroductionGender inequalities continue to drive new HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) at rates too high to achieve global goals. In high HIV-burden jurisdictions, this is particularly true for adolescent girls and young women at disproportionate risk, while social and systemic barriers also impede the engagement of young men and gender minorities with health services. We sought evidence of approaches to promote sexual and reproductive health (SRH) outcomes by addressing gender transformation and removing structural barriers that broadly limit prospects for adolescents and young people.MethodsWe conducted a realist review to identify HIV and SRH-focused interventions with gender transformative mechanisms. Eligible interventions sought to achieve HIV/STI prevention, sexual behaviour or pregnancy outcomes among young people by enhancing agency, resources and social norms supportive of gender transformation. We developed a programme theory to guide the data extraction and synthesis and categorised interventions by strategy, recording impacts on health and/or gender-related outcomes.ResultsWe identified 33 eligible interventions, representing diverse programme strategies and outcomes. Most interventions used a combination approach, with economic strengthening as the most common central strategy (n=13), followed by community-based mobilisation for norms change (n=7), then school-based educational curricula (n=6). The majority (n=24) achieved ‘dual effects’, that is, positive effects on both healthandgender-related outcomes; 15 with dual effects specific to HIV prevention. Few evaluations measured or found impacts on HIV/STI incidence. 12 reported positive impacts on condom use alongside improved agency or gender norms.ConclusionsYouth-focused interventions that address context-specific economic and social determinants of HIV and SRH risk have proliferated recently, with encouraging impacts on both HIV/SRH and gender-related outcomes. This bodes well for empowering strategies to achieve HIV and STI reduction targets among adolescents and young people, and broader SRH goals. However, most interventions prioritise individual rather than structural change; impeding their ‘gender transformative’ potential.

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Evaluating the Intensity of Exposure to MTV Shuga, an Edutainment Program for HIV Prevention: Cross-Sectional Study in Eastern Cape, South Africa (Preprint)

Mulwa,

Baker,

Cawood

et al. 2022

Preprint

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BACKGROUND MTV Shuga is an edutainment campaign designed to equip young people with knowledge, motivation, and informed choices to protect themselves from HIV infection. From 2019 to 2020, a total of 10 episodes of a new dramatic series, MTV Shuga “Down South 2” (DS2), were broadcast via television and the internet, alongside complementary media activities. OBJECTIVE This study aims to investigate whether the intensity of DS2 exposure was linked with positive HIV prevention outcomes in a setting with high HIV prevalence and relatively low levels of HIV testing. METHODS We analyzed data from a web-based survey of participants aged 15 to 24 years in South Africa in 2020. The survey was promoted via social media platforms of schools, universities, and communities in Eastern Cape, South Africa. The primary exposure of interest was the intensity of exposure to DS2, measured by the number of episodes of DS2 watched on the television or the internet or listened to on the radio (out of 10 episodes). Individuals who had not watched or listened to any DS2 episode were classified according to other MTV Shuga content that they had accessed. We estimated associations between the intensity of DS2 exposure and HIV-related outcomes, including knowledge of HIV status, awareness of HIV self-testing (HIVST) and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), uptake of HIVST, and demand for HIVST and PrEP, adjusting for potential confounders using multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS Among the 3431 survey participants, 827 (24.1%) were exposed to DS2. Specifically, 18.1% (622/3431) watched or listened to only 1 DS2 episode, and 2.4% (82/3431), 1.7% (58/3431), and 1.8% (62/3431) watched or listened to 2 to 4, 5 to 7, and 8 to 10 DS2 episodes, respectively. Increasing the exposure to DS2 was associated with improvements in most outcomes. Exposure to multiple episodes (eg, 2-4, 5-7, and 8-10) was associated with successively higher odds of knowing one’s HIV status, awareness of PrEP and HIVST, and uptake of HIVST compared with no MTV Shuga exposure, albeit with statistical uncertainty around some estimates. The interest in using HIVST or PrEP was high overall (>80%), with no measurable differences by DS2 intensity. CONCLUSIONS We found evidence consistent with a dose-response relationship between MTV Shuga DS2 exposure and outcomes, including knowledge of HIV status, awareness and uptake of HIVST, and awareness of PrEP among young people in Eastern Cape. This indicates that greater engagement with a youth-focused edutainment campaign can improve HIV testing and prevention options in a setting and population with high need. However, only a few participants accessed multiple DS2 episodes despite its availability on multiple media platforms. We conclude that there is potential to benefit more young people by increasing access to and interest in the show.

show abstract

Young Adults’ Responses to an African and US-Based COVID-19 Edutainment Miniseries: Real-Time Qualitative Analysis of Online Social Media Engagement

Cited by 3 publications

References 24 publications

Evaluating the Intensity of Exposure to MTV Shuga, an Edutainment Program for HIV Prevention: Cross-Sectional Study in Eastern Cape, South Africa

Evaluating the Intensity of Exposure to MTV Shuga, an Edutainment Program for HIV Prevention: Cross-Sectional Study in Eastern Cape, South Africa

Gender-transformative HIV and SRHR programme approaches for adolescents and young people: a realist review to inform policy and programmes

Evaluating the Intensity of Exposure to MTV Shuga, an Edutainment Program for HIV Prevention: Cross-Sectional Study in Eastern Cape, South Africa (Preprint)

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