The Drum Beat 430 - Healthy Youth: Edutainment Strategies

From The Communication Initiative Network - where communication and media are central to social and economic development.

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Entertainment-education (E-E), also referred to as "edutainment", is a communication approach that has been used in various ways around the world to engage people by inspiring dialogue, raising awareness, shaping attitudes, and generating change. This issue of the Drum Beat focuses on how this method has been drawn upon to address health issues that impact the lives of young people, in particular, such as HIV/AIDS and reproductive health. It highlights just a few communication tools that have been used to make this strategy work in engaging and addressing this population, to foster better health in a variety of settings around the world.

Below are just a few selections related to the above topic. To find other items of interest to you on The CI websites, please search for "youth" and "edutainment" or click here and search for "youth" and "entertainment-education" or click here.

Please send us information about how you are using edutainment to improve the lives of youth in your own context. Contact Deborah Heimann anytime at dheimann@comminit.com

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CONCEPTUALISING EDUTAINMENT

1. [From the Soul City website; accessed February 10 2008]
"Edutainment has been defined as the art of integrating social issues into popular and high-quality entertainment formats, based on a thorough research process....Drama programmes get people talking - not only about exciting storylines, and interesting characters, but also about the issues that are woven into the programmes. It is also often easier to speak about certain issues, such as AIDS or sex in the third person. Drama allows one to do this. Stimulating constructive public debate is thought to be a powerful change agent in development communication. It creates a supportive environment for social change."

2. [From the Sesame Workshop website; accessed February 10 2008]
"We call on educators, researchers, psychologists, child development experts, artists, writers, and musicians to translate ideas into action, channeling children's natural attraction to media in constructive ways."

3. [From the PCI-Media Impact website; accessed February 14 2008]
"Stories capture the dynamics of everyday life, offering the opportunity to reach people on a deeply personal level. Our stories are grounded in social learning theory, and include positive characters who are rewarded, negative characters who are punished, and transitional characters whose experiences embody the difficult choices we all face in everyday life. Over the course of a broadcast, the audience bonds with these transitional characters and, as a result, they begin to emulate the positive behaviors included in the stories."

4. [From the Kaiser Family Foundation website; accessed February 14 2008]
"International reproductive health organizations have long used mass media entertainment for educational purposes in some developing countries. Entertainment-education involves presenting educational content in entertaining formats with the primary goal of increasing knowledge. Mass media's pervasiveness allows it to reach a large number of people, sending messages repeatedly in a variety of forms. Television soap operas/dramas and films are widely used in entertainment-education. Radio is also used widely because of its relatively low production cost, accessibility and extensive reach. However, assessing the impact of such programs is complex....Though it is unclear whether entertainment-education changes behavior...[e]valuations have demonstrated positive results in terms of increased knowledge about HIV transmission and the need for family planning, and increases in visits to local family planning clinics."

SPORTY WAYS TO ENGAGE

5.HIV Education Playing Cards
by Mark Van der Merwe and Estelle Goren
The South African social enterprise company CompuTainer has developed an initiative involving the creation of a deck of playing cards and various board games in an effort to raise levels of HIV and AIDS awareness in the workplace, home, and community centres throughout Africa. (Note: The playing cards are the sole intellectual property of CompuTainer and Synergy Health). Focused on a broad audience, the cards have been built around a central soccer theme. "Choices & Consequences" is designed for teens and adults, and is being made available for HIV/AIDS and sex education in companies, tertiary institutions, secondary schools, and family groups.

6.Scenarios from Africa: AIDS Contest - Africa
Scenarios from Africa is inviting young people aged 24 years and younger to submit creative, original ideas for a film of up to 5 minutes in length about HIV and AIDS. Selected ideas will be adapted by professional scriptwriters, turned into films by some of Africa's current film directors, and broadcast on national and international television. The idea can take a variety of forms, such as a short story, a comic strip, a song, or a poem. One of the suggested topics is the following: "Write a story for a very short, fast-moving film involving HIV/AIDS and football - a film that you would like to see on TV during halftime of matches of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa." [Deadline: March 15 2008]

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See these and other related archived Drum Beat issues:

The Drum Beat 335 - Playing for Change: Communication through Sport

The Drum Beat 412 - Dance for Development

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SCHOOL- AND COMMUNITY-CENTRED ACTIONS

7.Drama for Life - Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Developed by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in partnership with the German Development Cooperation, Drama for Life aims to build capacity in the area of HIV/AIDS and education through drama and theatre. In 2008, Wits University will run a training course for performers and teachers, and, in 2009, the Master Trainers will work as multipliers in their own countries, with the Governments' and other stakeholders' involvement in the beginning rollout of Drama for Life in the SADC region, as an integral part of the envisaged 15-year SADC Drama for Life programme. In 2010, the closely supervised and monitored Drama for Life project will be reviewed at the regional Drama for Life Festival/symposium.
Contact: Warren Nebe Warren.nebe@wits.ac.za OR Amira Elmissiry Amira.elmissiry@wits.ac.za

8.Promoting Change in the Reproductive Behavior of Youth: Pathfinder International's PRACHAR Project, Bihar, India
by Jennifer Wilder, Rekha Masilamani, and Dr. E. E. Daniel
This resource offers a case study of Promoting Change in Reproductive Behavior in Bihar (PRACHAR), a Pathfinder International programme implemented in India that promoted major attitude and behaviour changes in youth - as well as their parents and influential community members - related to delaying a first child and spacing subsequent children. Edutainment was among the many strategies used as part of this community-centred programme: Pathfinder-trained Cultural Teams were charged with writing their own scripts for songs and plays, and then visited villages once every 6 weeks. Trainers offered feedback, but left the teams to develop material appropriate to their cultural contexts. Following this process, the teams presented plays, songs, and puppet shows dramatising the hazards of early childbearing and promoting the advantages of family planning and child spacing. In short, the evaluators conclude that PRACHAR's community-based, participatory methodology succeeded in improving both reproductive health and demographic indicators by focusing on adolescents and youth and serving their felt needs.

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USE OF TECHNOLOGY TO INCORPORATE AND ENGAGE YOUNG VOICES

9.Ma Vie, Ma Décision - Cote d'Ivoire / Ivory Coast
Launched in August 2007, Ma Vie, Ma Décision is a youth-driven, E-E-based, health promotion campaign that aims to incorporate young Ivorians' language and input into TV spots, radio programmes, and a photo novella to address issues around gender norms, HIV risk, condom use, and sexual negotiation skills. A print colour photo novella addressing 3 themes - abstinence, condom use, and HIV testing - were distributed to youth through community networks. The mini-posters, the photo novella, and promotional items such as T-shirts and key chains were used as prizes in youth contests, and other youth games and activities organised by youth groups, youth-serving community-based organisations, and local radio stations.
Contact: Amelie Sow asow@jhuccp.org OR Regina Traore Serie rtserie@yahoo.fr

10.Nepal Radio Breaks Taboos to Fight HIV/AIDS
This article describes an hour-long Nepali radio show, "Chatting with My Best Friend", which attempts to spread awareness on safe sex and protection against HIV/AIDS for young people who are vulnerable to the disease. The radio show, which was available in only a few towns in 2001, is now broadcast over 35 "popular" FM stations, including the state-run Radio Nepal. Because many of the 70,000 Nepali people with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) fear stigmatisation, the radio programme hopes to impart to youth skills such as dealing with emotions and stress, as well as support for "communicating issues that can't be discussed with parents", despite social taboos. Hosts of the programme chat about how the behaviours of injecting of drugs and unsafe sex can cause HIV, and also promote the use of condoms.

11.Sex, AIDS and Videotape: Video as a Tool in Informing About HIV/AIDS Among Young People in Rural Mozambique
by Törja Ngenge
This study aims to explore if and how video can be used as a means of conveying information and encouraging debate about HIV/AIDS, sexual health, and related issues such as teenage pregnancy and gender questions among teenagers and young adults (10-24 years old) in Mozambique. The author examines the impact of 2 films, one of which is the Zimbabwean box-office hit "Cartão Amarelo" ("Yellow Card"). The author found that "the films largely contributed to educate, inform and entertain the audience. They claimed to have enjoyed watching the films for reasons like relaxation and pleasure but also because they liked being informed, learning new things, seeing things from their own culture and seeing reality on film. The audience liked seeing situations and people they could relate to as well as seeing films bringing up subjects they were concerned by."

12.A Minute: New Lyrics Contest to Encourage Young People to Get Tested for HIV - United States
In a collaborative effort with hip-hop artist and actor Common, "It's Your (Sex) Life" - a public information partnership between the Kaiser Family Foundation and MTV, and the Common Ground Foundation, with support from Youth Speaks - is launching a new lyrics contest to encourage young people to get tested for HIV. The "A Minute" contest offers young people between the ages of 13 and 25 the opportunity to submit an original poem, lyrics (e.g., reggae, indie, rap), or writing that addresses why to get tested for HIV and the importance of knowing your HIV status. The winning entry will be performed by Common on National HIV Testing Day, June 27 2008, and will be broadcast throughout the summer on MTV2 and mtvU (MTV's college network), as well as be accessed on the "It's Your (Sex) Life" website. [Deadline: March 27 2008]

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Please visit Soul Beat Africa's Edutainment Theme Site - where you can access the latest information about how entertainment-education is being used in communication for development initiatives on that continent.

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GAUGING THE CONTEXT AND IMPACT OF YOUTH-ORIENTED E-E INITIATIVES

13.Media Multitasking Among American Youth: Prevalence, Predictors and Pairings
by Ulla G. Foehr, Ph.D.
Implemented by the Kaiser Family Foundation (a non-profit, private foundation focusing on the major health care issues), the study detailed in this report shares data from 7-day media use diaries collected from 694 young people in the United States aged 8 to 18 years, and quantifies the actual amount of time young people spend multitasking when using media or doing homework. Some key findings: When they are a young person's primary activity, television (TV) and videogames are the least multitasked media, while reading and computer activities such as instant messaging (IM), computer games, and looking at websites are the most multitasked. In a typical week, 81% of young people spend some of their media time "media multitasking". The author concludes by noting that, if a media multitasking environment becomes the norm for young people, advertisers and pro-social marketers have a number of questions to ask, such as: "If young people's media attention is divided, how can they be reached? Will messages placed in different media eventually be absorbed? Will a media synergy approach be enough to overcome divided attention? Can ultra-multitaskers ever be reached?"

14.Impact Data - Tsha Tsha - South Africa
This South African E-E television drama series focuses on the lives of young South African adults living in a world of HIV/AIDS. Set in a rural town in the Eastern Cape of South Africa and produced in the local language, Xhosa, the series explores love, sex, and relationships in a world affected by the realities of the pandemic. Among the findings from a May 2004 Evaluation: Tsha Tsha viewers were more likely to practice HIV preventative behaviours; for instance, 44% of viewers reported being faithful to their partner, compared to 27% of the control group, and 60% of viewers reported having used a condom during their last sex, compared to 51% of the control group. In addition, viewers were more likely to seek voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) to determine their HIV status than non-viewers. Among the findings from a July 2007 Evaluation: Tsha Tsha viewers were 6.5% more likely to report condom use at last sex, as compared to those who had not seen it; viewers were also 5.5% more likely to help someone who is sick with AIDS.

15.Impact Data - HEART Campaign - Africa
As part of HEART - Helping Each Other Act Responsibly Together - a design team made up of 7 young Zambians designed 5 TV spots that included messages (e.g., how a girl can say "no" to sex) and that promoted regular condom use. Producers of radio spots and songs adapted the same messages and concepts to the rural context and translated them into local languages. Other materials such as posters, book stickers, exercise books, messages on buses, and music videos complemented the mass media. Among the findings: Viewers were significantly more likely than non-viewers to report primary or secondary abstinence. Holding background variables constant, the odds that respondents were abstinent was 1.4 times greater for viewers compared with non-viewers in 2000 and 1.7 times greater in 2003.

16.Evaluating Health Communication - A Holistic Overview of the Impact of Soul City IV
by E. Scheepers, N. J. Christofides, Susan Goldstein, S. Usdin, Dhaval S. Patel, and Garth Japhet
This study evaluates an edutainment project carried out by Soul City, which is a South African non-governmental organisation (NGO) specifically focusing on the impacts of mass media campaigns on community and health practice changes at the individual, interpersonal, and community levels. This particular project, called Soul City 4 - employed television and radio E-E programmes that were broadcast nationwide. These programmes were supplemented by printed materials distributed nationwide through newspapers, as well as a national advocacy strategy involving lobbying of government and decision makers. The media and media advocacy strategies were designed to reach people aged 16 years and older with messages related to HIV/AIDS and youth sexuality, domestic violence and sexual harassment, hypertension, and small business development and personal finance. Among the findings: the Soul City E-E approach contributed to the empowerment of local communities, such as by raising collective health consciousness. The study concludes by discussing the factors that contributed to the positive outcomes of Soul City, including: the multimedia format; the drama edutainment format; the synergy of multiple, mutually reinforcing intervention components; historical dealing with multiple issues; an understanding of the importance of collectivism; and a theory-based intervention strategy.

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Interested in learning more about evaluation methodologies and impacts related to the use of the E-E strategy to engage youth? Please see the following archived Drum Beat issues:

The Drum Beat 361 - Puppetry for Development

The Drum Beat 343 - Sesame Workshop: International Initiatives and Impact

The Drum Beat 166 - South Africa HIV/AIDS Communication Strategies

The Drum Beat 77 - Impact - Communication - HIV/AIDS - Soul City

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This issue of The Drum Beat was written by Kier Olsen DeVries.

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The Drum Beat seeks to cover the full range of communication for development activities. Inclusion of an item does not imply endorsement or support by The Partners.

Please send material for The Drum Beat to the Editor - Deborah Heimann dheimann@comminit.com

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