An assessment of perceptions of effectiveness of risk communication in the wake of Ebola threat in Kenya: A study of selected publics

Abstract

This study sought to assess perceptions of the effectiveness of risk communication in the wake of Ebola threat in Kenya with a study of selected publics. It mainly focused on Busia town in Nambale Constituency. The study was inspired by the unprecedented high death toll of over 8,000 people who died of Ebola in the West African countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in 2014. In the midst of all this worldwide panic, Kenya was declared an Ebola high risk zone by the World Health Organisation because of its position as the transport hub of Africa. This prompted the study to find out how effective the Ebola threat risk communication had been in Kenya. The study had a sample size of 384 respondents and used both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection. It employed the instrument of questionnaires and two focus group discussion teams to gather data. The research findings indicated that the Ebola threat communication that was done was moderately effective with 93.6% of the respondents agreeing that more information about Ebola disease was still required. Another 93.9% agreed that more training on how to handle Ebola suspects was needed. The major perceived barrier was that 20% of the population, which constituted of people who were 35 years and above, held onto their cultural obligations and did not agree to implementing the suggested health behavior change. The findings also revealed that most people had a lot of fear of Ebola disease and considered it to be a mystery. These results also showed that the Ebola threat communication that had been done in the region did not fully achieve the risk communication goals of enhancing knowledge and creating understanding of the disease, influencing attitudes, decisions and behaviors towards a risk.