Overview

Nepal's rugged terrain, remote villages, high unmet need for family planning, and low literacy rates make radio the ideal medium for disseminating family planning/reproductive health information. Implemented between 1994 and 2001, the Radio Communication Program was developed in collaboration Nepal’s Government, 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/CCP. The project integrated mass media, distance education, and interpersonal communication and counseling training programs. Together these activities aimed 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'.

Accomplishments

• RCP featured a radio-based distance education program for health workers and a radio drama serial for the general population.
• RCP simultaneously addressed both the provider of and client for quality family planning/reproductive health services. Health messages were coordinated across the program so that the same health messages were broadcast to the general public and to the service providers.
• About 45% of clients and 72% of providers listened to one or both of the radio serials. The quality of client-provider interaction was better if either the client or the provider had been exposed, and best if both provider and client had been exposed.
• Radio Program messages were disseminated through 75 existing literacy classes among Tharu women in Bardya district in coordination with World Education.
• Nepalese individuals who were exposed to the radio serials had dramatically improved attitudes on key issues related to family planning use, including image of family planning users, side effects of methods, son preference, expectations of treatment by providers, and benefits of family planning on family well-being.
• The success of the project was evidenced in the rebroadcast of the original dramatic series between June and December 1997.