A message to school girls.
Adeolu Akinwande · PubMed · 1993
Information, education, and communication (IEC) programs need to be strengthened to appeal to adolescents, who are increasingly contributing to unwanted pregnancy and are using abortion as a means of birth control. Successful IEC programs have the following characteristics: 1) established communication theories that guide development of materials; 2) a multimedia and a mass media approach to information dissemination, and 3) emphasis on visual displays. The primary emphasis should be on presentation of a concise, clear message with the appropriate visual medium. Many communication specialists in developing countries, however, lack the training to design and use effective IEC software. Designing effective messages involves a process of integrating scientific ideas with artistic appeal. The aim is to stimulate the target audience to change its behavior of life style. The message must be convincing and contain practical and useful information. The IEC Software Design Cycle focuses on analysis and diagnosis, design production, pretesting and modification, and distribution and evaluation. Each of these processes are described. Necessary before any attempt is made is obtaining data on historical, sociocultural, and demographic characteristics, economic activities, health and social services, communication infrastructure, marriage and family life patterns, and decision making systems. Focus group discussions may be used to collect information about the target group. An example is given of the process of development, in a course through the Center or African Family Studies, of a poster about premarital sex directed to 11-16 year olds. On the basis of focus group discussions, it was decided that the message would be to encourage girls to talk with their mothers about family life and premarital sex. The poster was produced with 2 school girls talking in front of the school. The evaluation yielded modifications such as including a school building that resembled actual classrooms better, students playing ball, a caption at the top of the poster and more feminine and younger faces. The changes were made and the project completed.