| dc.description.abstract | The focus of this study was on HIV IAIDS behaviour change communication. The study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of HIV/AIDS behaviour change campaigns among Kenyan male populations of 15 years and above through voluntary circumcision by the Nyagza Reproductive Health Society (Nairobi).
The study set out to specifically investigate the environmental factors that have promoted or inhibited the uptake of voluntary male circumcision by the target population, assess the impact of the campaign in shaping the attitudes of the target population towards voluntary male circumcision and HIV infection, and to examine the impact of the campaign in influencing perceptions of HIV risk and the role of voluntary male circumcision in HIV/AIDS prevention among the target population.
Previously, HIV communication interventions mostly targeted women and the youth. Voluntary male circumcision by Nyanza Reproductive Health Society is one of the most recent HIV/AIDS preventive interventions, targeting men from the traditionally non circumcising Luo community. No comprehensive scholarly assessment has been done on the effectiveness of the HIV behaviour change campaign on voluntary male circumcision to establish whether the success was attributable to communication initiative by the Nyanza Reproductive Health Society or because of intervening variables that led to the desired change to address this gap. This research sought to address this gap by evaluating the effectiveness of the HIV behaviour change communication strategy on voluntary male circumcision by the NRHS.
Even though Kibera residents represent all the major ethnic backgrounds, some areas are specifically dominated by people of one ethno-linguistic group. Purposive sampling was used to select three villages namely; Mashimoni, Lindi and Gatwikira from Kibera sub location in Nairobi, which are predominantly occupied by the Luo ethnic community.
The respondents comprise of a purposive sample of 60 males, 15 years and above. This is estimated to be the age at which the youth become sexually active and most vulnerable to HIV and AIDS infection. Data was collected using a questionnaire containing both structured and unstructured questions and key informant interviews. Data was analysed through simple statistics.
The findings of this study established that environmental factors playa crucial role in the success or failure of a behaviour change campaign. The findings of the study showed that, majority of the respondents underwent male circumcision because it was offered at no cost. Further, the key informants pointed out that, social and political factors played a major role in the success of the voluntary male circumcision campaign by the NRHS.The role of relatives, friends and political leaders cannot be downplayed in the success of a behaviour change campaign. The study established that, cultural factors inhibited the success of the campaign.
The study revealed that, perceptions of risk of HIV infection among the target audience was low. Most of the respondents said that, they were not at the risk of being HIV infected. The campaign was successful in influencing the attitudes of the target population towards male circumcision and HIV infection. The target audience understood the importance of male circumcision and its role in reducing the chances of HIV infection.
The study concludes that, more awareness campaigns are needed to enlighten the target group on the enormity of the disease. Environmental factors such as economic, social, and political factors and the cultural context of the target group should be factored in designing and implementation of future behaviour change campaigns. The study recommends further research on the factors that inform the attitudes and the perceptions of the target audience. The study als'o recommends that, in future, campaign planners should involve health experts in designing of campaign messages to give their expert view on the importance of male circumcision. | en_US |
