 Radio Communication Project (RCP)
Overview
Nepal's rugged terrain, the remoteness of the typical Nepali village, high unmet need for family planning (27.8%), and low literacy rates make radio the ideal medium for disseminating family planning/reproductive health information.
Goals
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Health worker carrying bag with
Radio Program logos |
The RCP is designed to generate demand for family planning services and to improve the quality of services. The RCP has been developed in collaboration with His Majesty's Government (HMG) Department of Health Services, the National Health Training Council (NHTC), the National Health Education Information and Communication Council (NHEICC), and the Family Health Division (FHD) with funding from USAID and technical assistance from JHU/PCS.
The RCP has been broadcast in Nepal since 1996. The RCP integrates mass media, distance education, and interpersonal communication and counseling training programs. It features a radio-based distance education program for health workers and a radio drama serial for the general population along with reinforcing program components.
Together these activities aim to improve the quality of contraceptive services, empower clients to actively seek contraceptive information and services, and promote the concepts of 'responsible husband' and 'well-planned family'.
Impact
The Radio Communication Project simultaneously addresses both the provider of and client for quality Family Planning/Reproductive Health Services. The use of health messages is coordinated among the different aspects of the program so that the same health messages that are being broadcast to the provider are simultaneously being broadcast in the drama serial to the general public.
Provider
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Health Worker taking notes during Radio Program. |
- An entertainment-education distance education radio serial titled "Service Brings Reward" improves knowledge and skills of government health workers.
- Interpersonal Counseling/Communication (IPC/C) for all levels of health workers, supervisors, peer supervision, and self-assessment.
- Supplementary Materials: program booklets, resource manuals, flipcharts and family planning method-specific brochures.
Client
- An entertainment-education drama serial titled "Cut Your Coat According To Your Cloth" for the general public, especially married women and couples with unmet need.
- Community motivation activities: Radio Listeners Groups, Street Drama, Condom Day
- Materials: workbooks, promotional flyers, listeners guides
 The RCP aims to extend the reach of the messages contained in the programs through a variety of community-based activities. JHU/PCS has had encouraging results in promoting RCP messages among Female Community Health Volunteer (FCHV) led listening groups in Fulbari VDC, Chitwan and within literacy groups in Bardiya District.
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RCP Listeners Group in Bardiya |
- "Distance Education Works" Communication Impact!
(January 1998)  
- "Improving Family Planning Use and Quality of Service in Nepal through the Entertainment-Education Strategy," Field Report #12 (2000)
- Field Report 12: Summary and Update
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Radio Drama Serial Facilitates Behavior Change
With the rugged terrain, the remoteness of a typical Nepali village and the low literacy rates in Nepal, radio is the most cost effective medium for disseminating health messages and influencing positive behavior change. If the messages given through radio are reinforced through interpersonal communication channels and other forms of community-based media, the likelihood of changing behavior is even greater.
Johns Hopkins University/Center for Communication Programs in Nepal uses a network of Radio Listeners' Groups in Bardiya District to expand the reach of the popular drama serial "Cut Your Coat According to Your Cloth" to rural communities. With financial assistance from USAID sixty-five Listeners' Groups were formed among women of reproductive age in seven Village Development Committees (VDC) in Bardiya District. Each group comprises about 20-25 members and is led by a member of the group chosen to facilitate discussions about the health messages contained in the enter-educate program.
Bhagawati Tripathi is a facilitator for a Radio Listeners' Group in Jamuni VDC Bardiya district. As a user of family planning herself, Bhagawati has seen a more than 30% increase in the use of family planning methods in her group. Since listening to the radio program, she reports that she and the other women in her group have a better understanding of the importance of family planning. The radio program has also helped to dispel misconceptions and rumors about family planning methods and to educate them about risks and benefits for informed choice. Thanks to the health messages about promoting maternal and child care, she has also seen more frequent and appropriate use of health services in her village. Bhagawati has also seen that the tendency for parents to provide better access to education, nutrition and health care to sons rather than daughters is beginning to change in positive ways as a result of the radio programs and group discussions. |
History
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Poster presentation for the Radio Communication Project (9.5MB) |
A measure of success of the Radio Communication Project is evidenced by its continued broadcast since 1995.
Phase 1 was aired in the Mid-western region of Nepal and in 1996 was revised to meet the needs of the national population. The serials were rebroadcast nationally between December 1997 and March 1998.
Phase 2 for both series were aired between January 1998 and January 1999, with a broader mandate: they addressed reproductive health issues, including Safe Motherhood and HIV/AIDS prevention. Additional radio spots and jingles were also developed.
Supervision and monitoring for the Distance Education Program was undertaken in four districts (Sunsari, Chitwan, Dhankuta and Dang). Results from the integrated evaluation for the Radio Communication Project Phase 2 indicated that the project was continuing to have a positive impact on health-related attitudes and practices among those exposed to its messages.
Phase 3 went on air in January 1999. The focus was on family planning, specifically on contraceptive side effects, while including additional health topics like safe motherhood, infant and child health, and vector borne diseases.
Formal IPC/C training workshops were conducted with Health-Post and Sub-Health Post in-charges in Sunsari district of Nepal, with a focus on peer-supervision. An additional district of Kailali was selected as a site for formal monitoring and supervision of the Phase 3 of the distance education program.
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Health Worker counseling a couple. |
Phase 4 was aired from March 2000 to April 2001 with a focus on reproductive health, safe motherhood, infant and child health, and adolescent reproductive health.
Phase 5 rebroadcast the first year's programs with updated technical information.
Phase 6 is a rebroadcast of the second year's program with technical updates. Broadcast began in December 2002.
The Radio Program messages are also being disseminated through 75 existing literacy classes among Tharu women in Bardya district in coordination with World Education.
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