Taimur-ul Hassan, Anjum Zia, Israr Ahmad Anjum.
A Comparative study of Health Education Strategies in Family Planning.
Pak J Med Res Jan ;58(2):77-82.

Background: Changes in behavior and adoption of new ideas are very complex and multifaceted, and have resulted in several decades of research, which have produced several theories and conceptual models of dissemination of awareness and adoption of new ideas. Objective: To find out which medium is more effective in creating public health awareness regarding family planning and to investigate the factors involved in making effective public health campaigns in the district. Study type and settings: The cross-sectional study was conducted in four Tehsils of District Kasur i.e. tehsil Kasur, tehsil Chunian, tehsil Kot Rada Kishan and tehsil Pattoki. Methodology: By using simple, random and clustered sampling technique, six hundred (600) survey questionnaire forms, three hundred (300) in English for literate / educated people and three hundred (300) in Urdu for illiterate people were distributed. The administrative division of Kasur District was used to make clusters. Each tehsil was considered as a cluster in order to cover the both rural and urban areas. One hundred and fifty (150) questionnaire forms were distributed to be filled in each cluster / tehsil. The chi-square test was applied to identify the significance of difference of health education strategies provided by health workers and mass media regarding family planning. Results: It was found that only 38% people know about vaccination campaign, 45% people know about nutrition, 48% people know about sanitation and 61% people know about the contraception. The study also found that mass media (T.V, radio, newspaper) disseminates (29%) and interpersonal communication (health workers / change agents) contribution is 71% in creating awareness about the use of contraception in family planning. Conclusion: It was found that health workers/ change agents were more effective than mass media (T.V, radio, newspaper) in creating awareness about contraception among masses in District Kasur. Affirming diffusion of innovations that after the initial flow of information through the mass media the spike in adoption is caused by interpersonal communication and mediation of opinion leaders.

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