Browsing by Author "Nganda, Jeremiah M."

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    Exploring Lived Experiences on The Use Of Self-Talk as a Coping Strategy Among Covid-19 Patients in Kenya
    (Daystar University, School of Communication, 2023) Nganda, Jeremiah M.
    This study considered self-talk from the context of COVID-19 because patients isolated from their usual contacts are likely to adapt measures to cope. The purpose of this study was therefore to explore experiences on the use of self-talk as a coping strategy among patients who were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Kenya. This was guided by Albert Bandura’s Self-Efficacy Theory. The target population were patients who had been hospitalized and recovered from COVID-19. A sample size of 15 participants was drawn using a combination of both purposive and snowball sampling techniques. Data was generated by interviewing the recovered patients and then analyzed thematically. Findings show that participants used self-talk which they described using various terms to imply conversation with the self. While the participants demonstrated an understanding of self-talk, there was a misconception regarding overt self-talk. In addition, mastery experiences were reported as contributing to the use of self-talk. In terms of content, the participants reported using questions and answers and referring to themselves with terms such as ‘I’, ‘you’ and even their names. Lastly, several benefits were associated with the use of self-talk as participants reported feeling better, less stressed and less lonely. Informed by these findings, we conclude that self-talk is commonly applied especially by people isolated from their social contacts, however, some people may not be self-aware of their use of self-talk. In addition, as reported by one participant, self-talk in the context of health communication can be described as ‘me for me’. Implying how patients could contribute to their well-being through the words they tell themselves. One of the key recommendations of this study is that there is a need to increase awareness regarding self-talk and address misconceptions relating to overt self-talk.
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    Factors Affecting Communication of Adoption of Condoms for the Prevention of HIV/AIDS Transmission among the Youth of Kenya’s Kibera Slum
    (Daystar University, School of Communication, 2018-04) Nganda, Jeremiah M.
    HIV/AIDS is still one of the leading causes of death more than 30 years since the first case was reported. While studies have shown that the total number of new infections globally has been dropping, it is regrettable that many Sub Saharan countries continue to record high HIV prevalence. This is especially among the youth living in slums like Kibera. Proper and consistent condom use is able to prevent the transmission of HIV among the youth because abstinence is not working for youth who are already sexually active. Though several behaviour change campaigns have been done in Kenya to promote the use of condoms, their uptake is still low. Consequently, this study sought to find out what factors were influencing condom use decisions among the youth. Using the Theory of Planned Behaviour this study has shown that intention to perform behaviour is greatly influenced by attitude, social norms and perceived behavioural control. Data was collected by issuing questionnaires to 400 youth in Kibera who had been selected using purposive sampling from a population of approximately 50,000 youth. Data collected was keyed into SPSS for analysis and presented in tables and graphs. Findings of the study revealed that teachers, parents and religious groups were the leading sources of information against condoms among the youth. The majority of the youth were sexually active (51%) but are not using condoms because their perception is that they are at no risk of infection (53.2%). The risk perception impedes condom use among the youth hence the high HIV prevalence. The study recommends that communicators should tailor campaigns to address the perception of youth towards condoms and link condom use to perception of risk of infection. In addition, parents and teachers should be primary targets for campaigns targeting to influence youth to use condoms.
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    Health Belief Model Review: Suggestions to Consider in Extending the Model for Application in the African Context
    (Howard Journal of Communications, 2023-10) Nganda, Jeremiah M.; Mwithia, Kinya Jesica
    While scholars use many theories and models in health communication, only a handful of them are commonly used in studies focusing on behavior change and prediction. One of these is the Health Belief Model. Even though the model has been applied widely, not much has been done to contextualize the model for contemporary application in Africa. In the absence of a theory by and for Africans that addresses behavior prediction from a health communication viewpoint, there is a need to contextualize the available theories for application in the African context. This study aims to expose additional constructs that have been proposed to contextualize HBM for studies in the continent. Such suggestions for extensions and additional constructs could provide insights into gaps that scholars see as not addressed by the original version of HBM. This essay reviews 9 articles that either proposed or recommended additional constructs. The findings of the review show that to contextualize the model for application in Africa, some of the key additional constructs to consider are community influence, cultural background, subjective norms, social support, and environmental factors.
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    Perception of HIV/AIDS infection and its effect on condom use among the youth of Kenya’s Kibera Slum
    (Journal of Development and Communication Studies, 2020-12) Nganda, Jeremiah M.; Komen, Leah Jerop; Mbogoh, Beatrice
    While studies have shown that the total number of new HIV / AIDS infections globally is on the decrease, many Sub Saharan countries continue to record high HIV prevalence. This is the case especially among the youth living in informal settlements such as Kibera slums in Kenya. Proper and consistent condom use has been presented as one of the best ways of preventing the transmission of HIV among the youth whereas abstinence has been found to be a challenge for the youth who are seen as sexually active. Though several behaviour change campaigns have been done in Kenya to promote the use of condoms among the youth, their uptake is still low (Coma, 2014). Consequently, this study sought to find out the factors were influencing condom use decisions among the youth. Using the Theory of Planned Behaviour that links behaviour change to intention to perform behaviour greatly influenced by attitude, social norms and perceived behavioural control. Data for this quantitative study was collected through a questionnaire administered to 400 youths in Kibera and 356 were completed. Data collected were keyed into SPSS for analysis and presented in tables and graphs. Findings of the study revealed that many of the youth were sexually active (51 per cent) but were not using condoms. Their perception was that they were at no risk of infection (53.2 per cent). This perception of not being at risk impedes condom use among the youth hence the high HIV prevalence while another group felt that the free distributed condoms were of low quality. The study recommends that communicators, especially in this era of new media should tailor campaigns to address the perception of youth towards condoms. In addition, condom communication campaigns should link condom use to perception of risk of infection.