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Session Title: Focusing on Exposure as a Central Construct in Health Campaigns Research: Experiences From Entertainment-Education and Other Interventions in Africa

Panel Session 424 to be held in Washington Room on Thursday, November 8, 3:35 PM to 5:05 PM

Sponsored by the Health Evaluation TIG

Chair(s):

Rajiv payday loan  Rimal payday loan ,  Johns Hopkins University,  rrimal@jhsph.edu

Discussant(s):

Tara payday loan  Sullivan payday loan ,  Johns Hopkins University,  tsulliva@jhsph.edu

Abstract: Although exposure to campaign messages is critical for intervention success, developing effective, reliable, and valid instruments for measuring exposure is critical for demonstrating success. This panel is organized around the common theme of innovative approaches to the measurement of exposure in national, mass media based campaigns. Illustrations are drawn from experiences in Egypt, South Africa, and Malawi.

Character Recognition as a Reliable Measure of Exposure to Alam Simsim Among Preschool Children in Egypt Maria Elena payday loan  Figueroa payday loan ,  Johns Hopkins University,  mefiguer@jhuccp.org For the evaluation of Alam Simsim (the Egyptician version of Sesame Street) two measures of exposure were developed. A comprehensive scale measure including six self-reported items such as programs watched and favorite programs was computed and compared to a simpler measure based on the recognition of the main characters of the program. The reliability of the scale comprising the six measures was 0.79 (alpha). For the second measure, children were shown pictures of the three main characters and asked to point to each when their name was provided by the interviewer. The reliability of this measure was 0.87. Both measures were used in ordinary least square regression to assess the effect of Alam Simsim on numeracy and literacy skills and on gender attitudes among children 4 to 6 years old in Egypt. The results were similar and statistically significant for each outcome, thus attesting to the measure's validity.

Development of a Continuous Measure of Exposure to a Television Drama to Help Prevent AIDS in South Africa Lawrence payday loan  Kincaid payday loan ,  Johns Hopkins University,  lkincaid@jhuccp.org For the evaluation of the national TV drama, Tsha Tsha, in South Africa, a continuous measure of recall was developed that was independent of the hypothesized social outcomes of the drama. Respondents were asked to look at photos of the four main characters from the drama and 'unaided' give their correct names. They were also given a test of knowledge about features of the drama that were unrelated to the health issue of HIV/AIDS or the expected behavioral outcomes. Then they were given a list of the dominant event featured in each episode and asked if they remembered seeing that particular episode. The reliability of the scale comprised of these three measures was 0.93. Because the final measure was continuous, it was possible to determine if a dose response to the drama was operating versus a threshold effect (some minimal level of recall before any effect is possible).

Measuring Types of Exposure and Their Effects as a Function of Health Competence: The Integrated Communication for Healthy Living Project in Egypt Douglas payday loan  Storey payday loan ,  Johns Hopkins University,  dstorey@jhuccp.org This presentation describes the challenges of measuring exposure to an integrated multimedia plus community-based healthy lifestyles project in Egypt (Communication for Healthy Living-CHL) and attributing to it changes in nine different areas of health behavior from family planning to passive smoking. Using a health competence framework (based on a synthesis of health literacy and social capital perspectives), the paper examines the relationship between an individual's level of health competence and six types of program exposure measures ranging from general (media habits) to specific (self-reported learning from recalled CHL messages). Data derived from a population-based 2004-2005 panel survey of 2073 married women aged 15-49, 1891 husbands, and 1716 never married youth aged 15-24 show different patterns of exposure by gender, age, marital status and level of health competence as well as interaction effects of health competence and exposure on the number of positive health behaviors practiced.

The Radio Diaries Program in Malawi Designed to Reduce HIV Stigma: Evaluating the Different Measures of Exposure Rajiv payday loan  Rimal payday loan ,  Johns Hopkins University,  rrimal@jhsph.edu The Radio Diaries program is broadcast nationally on six stations in Malawi. Each week, one of the two HIV-positive diarists in each station discusses his or her experience living as an HIV-positive person. The goal of the program is to reduce stigma toward people living with HIV. This presentation discusses the effects of the Radio Diaries program, almost a year after the broadcasts began. It discusses the challenges in measuring exposure to the program, and it introduces three separate measures of program exposure: (a) number of episodes listened to, (b) number of times tuned in to the program, and (c) the style of listening. Although the inter-correlations among the three items were high (r's ranging from .71 to .77, all ps < .001), their ability to predict stigma varied considerably. The presentation will discuss how the quantity and quality of exposure may differ from each other.