Communication for Behaviour Change: A Study of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Agencies in Kenya

Abstract

This study was undertaken to assess the use of strategic communication in the management of HIV/AIDS communication programs. The guiding principles an theoretical framework were embedded in development communication paradigm and behaviour change models. Forty agencies were selected from a list of 320 organizations that engage in HIV AIDS prevention and control, and used for the study. Qualitative data analyze came from two samples of 72 program officers and 147 program beneficiaries. The program officers were asked a wide range of questions on various aspects of AID communication programming. Emphases were laid on specific areas such as the use of information Education and Communication (IEC), social marketing, re search, evaluation, and communication strategies. For the program beneficiaries the emphasis was on the perceived impact of programs on their knowledge abou AIDS and possible impact on their sexual behaviours. To complement the quant tative analysis, qualitative data were gathered through in-depth personal inter- views with ten (10) program directors. This study shows that many organizations make conscious effort to engage i program planning. However, the level and extensiveness of planning vary from one organization to another, reflecting their understanding of planning. Researc is found to be playing an important role in program development especially for needs assessment and evaluation. About 50% of respondents reported that the agencies had never engaged in any form of research but that they relied on re- search results from bigger organizations.