"I Say!": Quantitative and Qualitative Assessments of an Entertainment-Education Couple Communication Game Show in Tanzania: Abstract

"In order to increase couple communication around family planning, maternal and child health, and HIV prevention, the Tanzania Capacity and Communication Project (TCCP) developed Aiisseee! (I Say!), an integrated, multi-media, entertainment-education platform designed to approach serious issues in a humorous way."

The focus of this Tanzania Capacity and Communication Project (TCCP) presentation for the International SBCC Summit 2016, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, February 8-10, describes entertainment-education (EE) for health behaviours in Tanzania.

From the abstract:
"Couple communication has been shown to positively influence health behaviors, including uptake of family planning, HIV counseling and testing, and condom use. Data from Tanzania suggests that couple communication is low: 63 percent of women and 50.8 percent of men have discussed FP with their main sexual partner in the past 12 months, and only 39.7 percent of women and 24.0 percent of men have discussed going for an HIV test with their partner (TCCP Baseline Survey, 2011). In order to increase couple communication around family planning, maternal and child health, and HIV prevention, the Tanzania Capacity and Communication Project (TCCP) developed Aiisseee! (I Say!), an integrated, multi-media, entertainment-education platform designed to approach serious issues in a humorous way.

Key Highlights:
Just three months after Aiisseee! launched, 19.1 percent of men and 10.3 percent of women had been exposed to the campaign. In multivariate and/or propensity score analyses, exposure was significantly associated with improved increased HIV prevention knowledge (z=2.22, p=0.026), sexual protection self-efficacy (OR=1.91, t=2.03, p=0.048), sexual risk communication (OR=0.218, t=2.87, p=0.006; z=2.22, p=0.026), discussing HIV testing with a partner (z=3.09, p=0.002), likelihood of having ever been tested for HIV (z=2.84, p=0.005), and condom use with last primary sexual partner (OR=1.653, t=4.61, p0.001; z=3.65, p0.001). Qualitative research findings recommended better transitions between studio and street sessions, improved tracking of contestants throughout the show, expansion to additional regions, diversified recruitment mechanisms and additional broadcasts."