Acceptability, Comprehensibility and Reported Influence - BRAC ...

for 17 month the first soap opera titled ‘we people’. It was about promotion of family
planning and elevation of the status of women. Research indicates that 70% of the
viewers think that they had learned that women should have the freedom to make
their personal decisions about life and family size (37). Nigeria, Maldives, South Africa
and India also experienced similar success with television (12, 40, 41). However, it
was difficult to accurately measure the influence of this programme in relation to the
adoption of positive maternal and child health promoting practices. The impact
appeared in our study to be associated with the support the television show brought
to what community members learned through IPC. The influence of audience
involvement on IPC showed an overlap of mass media and IPC reported by Sood
(42). The present study also found that though few of the community people had
access to watch television programmes and mothers-in-law and husbands of the
women were not seen the television programme mostly. So community television,
where more individuals gather around, can be one of the way to broadcast health
related programmes. MNCH programme should consider the distribution of DVDs.
Though radio and television are not widely available in our communities, folksong is
also an effective mass media. Community people have eagerness for entertainment
education. This kind of low cost and low tech communication systems may be
effective for promotion of any social and behaviour change. Folk song as reported
was a good way to quickly disseminate messages to the community. Memorization
was easy as people can watch, hear and interpret the story at the same time. If the
folk song is properly organized in a systematic manner any intervention has
opportunities to quickly share messages.
It was also reported in several studies that using traditional media as a BCC method
may be effective (11, 12, 43). In Tanjania, traditional singing and dancing
performance called mamanju is held as part of a three-day festival on the theme of
skilled care. Incorporating music, singing and traditional dancing, in Burkina Faso, the
performances dramatized different scenarios to promote use of facility-based skilled
care. This medium can work more fruitfully if it is used more strategically. The
performances should be staged in conjunction with the community events, such as
holiday, village market day (hat bar), traditional day, special open days at health
facilities, community-level meetings, etc. Besides the local drama troupes, TBAs
could play an important role in disseminating the messages. TBAs in the remote rural
district of Pallisa in eastern Uganda play a significant role through some simple songs
where they are able to teach mothers about ANC, birth preparedness, newborn care,
also cite the major local killers of women in childbirth such as, anemia, cephalo-pelvic
disproportion, maleria and facilitate early identification and referral. It was seen that in
these villages without doctors and hospitals, TBAs and community members
themselves are solving the most serious health problems through the teaching power
of songs and stories (44).
Our findings reveal that in Nilphamari these media were used rarely and messages
could not reach to the community properly due to unsuitable time and place of
organization. But research confirmed that entertainment educations are highly
acceptable in communicating maternal and child health information and influencing
26 RED Working Paper No. 21