McDivitt, J. A., Zimicki, S., & Hornik, R. C. (1997). Explaining the impact of a communication campaign to change vaccination knowledge and coverage in the Philippines
This study analyzed data from the evaluation of a program to improve the vaccination status of young children in the Philippines to determine whether 1) exposure to health professionals increased the impact of a media campaign, 2) general or specific information was associated with an increase in vaccination rates, and 3) the campaign had a differential effect for families at different socioeconomic levels. The report opens with a brief introduction followed by a description of the vaccination campaign which, in its first stage (July-September 1989), involved informing health professionals about the campaign and, in its second (March-September 1990), involved broadcasting television and radio advertisements on the seriousness of measles. Findings of the previously published project evaluation are summarized, and current debates of the role of interpersonal and mass media channels in affecting behavior change, the importance of message content and behavior change, and knowledge and behavior gaps (communication effects gaps) are reviewed. Discussion of the study methodology reveals that pre/post-test surveys of two equivalent samples of 1200 women each were conducted to gather data on vaccination status of the youngest child under 2 years old, exposure to organized interpersonal channels, exposure to mass media messages, knowledge about vaccinations, and socioeconomic status. Results indicate that exposure to organized interpersonal channels did not enhance the success of the mass media campaign in affecting behavior changes, that the mass media campaign worked by improving specific rather than general knowledge, and that the socioeconomic gap between knowledge and behavior persisted. The report ends by identifying issues requiring further research.