How youth in Uganda experience televised HIV and AIDS education

Abstract

This study investigates how youth in Uganda experience televised HIV and AIDS educational programmes. Television is the medium that can be used to address the resurgence of HIV and AIDS in Uganda. The factors responsible for the resurgence include prevention fatigue and the saturation of HIV and AIDS messages in the media. The audio-visual component of television makes it possible to convey HIV and AIDS messages innovatively through education-entertainment. Despite its potential, television has not played a leading role in conveying HIV-related knowledge, skills, and attitudes to urban youths. The study required looking at the televised HIV and AIDS educational programmes from the perspective of young people. In line with the interpretivist and social constructivist framework, the primary source of information about the programmes is the experiences of young people who are the target audience. A qualitative research approach was used in the study and an instrumental case design in particular was employed in data collection. Data were collected through focus group discussions, personal interviews, document analyses and participant observations. Findings have revealed that young people can learn about HIV and AIDS from both educational programmes and television soaps. While they undergo sexual socialisation through television soaps, they have the capacity to distinguish between fiction, fantasy and reality. However, they dislike the didactic and authoritarian approaches that are used in the educational programmes. An important finding is that communication gaps characterise televised HIV and AIDS educational programmes. Some of the prevention messages and the values propagated by television HIV and AIDS education are detached from the experiences and world views of the youths. This could be attributed to insufficient knowledge on the part of HIV and AIDS educators regarding the way in which youth experience televised HIV and AIDS programmes.