The insights of outsiders : investigating learner perceptions of the mass treatment campaign's communication strategy for Schistosomiasis prevention in Ugu District, South Africa.
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Date
2013
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Abstract
Schistosomiaisis, commonly referred to as bilharzia is a neglected tropical parasitic water
borne disease prevalent in developing countries and is endemic in KwaZulu-Natal, South
Africa. The World Health Organisation (WHO) aims to eliminate bilharzia as a public health
problem by the year 2020 and as a measure to work towards this goal, the South African
Department of Health (DoH) Ugu District, KwaZulu-Natal commenced a Mass Treatment
Campaign (MTC) targeted at rural schools to decrease bilharzia infection intensity and
prevalence levels. The DOH MTC utilises communication materials to communicate with
stakeholders and the public to create awareness of the campaign and bilharzia. This study
specifically explored the perceptions of learners towards the communication materials used
by the DOH MTC to communicate with the learners in order to generate improvements for
the current communication strategy.
The ability of an individual to receive information is commonly impacted by the community,
social networks and the environment and infrastructural settings of the community. The
Social Ecological Model of Communication and Health Behaviour (SEMCHB)
acknowledges that such factors may have an impact on how the individual receives
information. The study utilises the broader social ecological perspective, and particularly the
SEMCHB as a framework for understanding and exploring the perceptions of learners.
The study made use qualitative data through focus group discussions, semi- structured
interviews and participant observations to gain insights from learners. The study discovered
that many incorrect perceptions about bilharzia still surround the learners. The perceived
messages communicated through the DoH MTC still need to be communicated with learners,
since some learners face challenges in understanding the preferred message. The encoding of
the communicated messages through the poster, pamphlet and consent forms is influenced by
the individuals social networks hence this study recommends that future communication
message are designed with reference to the SEMCHB.
Description
Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2013.
Keywords
Schistosomiasis--KwaZulu-Natal--Prevention., Awareness., Communication in public health--KwaZulu-Natal., Public health--KwaZulu-Natal., Theses--Culture, communication and media studies.