"I fear to use family planning": how communication campaigns reinforce family planning misconceptions in Uganda

Abstract

This paper analyzes the intersubjective audience interpretations of health communication campaign messages promoting modern family planning. Based on the encoding and decoding theory, the authors used focus group discussions and in-depth interviews to examine how women, men, and couples in Uganda decoded three radio and seven poster campaign messages. A thematic analysis of the data reveals how the respondents’ negotiated or oppositional decoding of the key campaign messages was due to the fear of side effects, partner disapproval, and socio-cultural norms. The authors conclude that despite near-universal awareness about family planning, the country’s low contraceptive prevalence is exacerbated by information transmission approaches that are not responsive to the audience’s fears and information needs.