PSA Testing In South India Illustrates Cultural Divide

Chennai women view PSAs and eagerly answer questions

In July 2000, CECHE tested the impact of four maternal and child health public service announcements (PSAs)on childbearing women in South India. Produced in 1998 as part of a series of television health promotion messages developed in CECHE's media training program in Punjab, India, these PSAs addressed visiting a doctor during pregnancy, breastfeeding, preparing to use a trained birth attendant during birthing, and oral rehydration. They featured vignettes about a mother and her pregnant daughter using a semi-dramatic format and were both broadcast on national television in Punjab and screened on television in local district health clinics. For use in South India, the PSA's were translated into Tamil and shown to socially and economically disadvantaged women from the urban slums of Chennai.

Socially- and economically-disadvantaged women were recruited to participate in the study from the urban slums of Chennai using a snowball sample. They were randomly assigned to a treatment or experimental group (where they viewed the four videos) or to a control group (where no videos were shown). The response rate was 100%. The research objective was to assess whether exposure to a specific PSA would predispose the viewer to adopt the behavior promoted in the PSA. PSAs were tested on 22 women in the experimental group and the responses compared with19 women in the control group. Group responses to questions about which message was preferred or not preferred and why, were also obtained. Newhouse School-trained researcher, Ms. Kalyani Subbiah conducted the fieldwork under the direction of Dr. Chew.

Research Results

Results of the testing were completed in 2002 and revealed the following:

  • The PSAs on prenatal doctor visits and breast feeding elicited high scores for past practice as well as future behavior (see chart), indicating that these women were knowledgeable and experienced in prenatal and infant health care and motivated to use the advice, and the PSAs served to reinforce existing behaviors.
  • Past and future behavior scores for the PSA on using a birth attendant were low, which suggested that this practice was not common in Chennai, possibly because hospitals were easily accessible and birth attendants were not used.
  • The PSA on oral rehydration received moderate scores for past behavior and slightly higher scores for future behavior, suggesting that the women found this practice helpful and would employ oral rehydration if and when the need arose.
  • Television is the most effective medium for reproductive health communication becausemore than 75% of the group watches television, and 58.8% took actions to improve their health, home, childcare, food shopping and traditional medicine based on what they heard or saw on TV.
 



In Focus, CECHE's new online publication, brings into focus lifestyle-related chronic diseases and environmental issues worldwide. It reaches health professionals and policy-makers in over 50 countries

Latest Issue | All Issues


MONITOR Quicklinks
- Latest Issue
- New Dietary Guidelines
- Global AIDS action
- Obesity Spreads
- WHO tackles epidemic
- Anti-Tobacco Forces
- PAST ISSUES
MONITOR Subscription subscribe
unsubscribe

 

 

 



Questions? Comments? Concerns? E-mail CECHE at CECHE@comcast.net
CECHE LogoGo back to the CECHE home page