Mass media and health promotion in Indian villages.

Abstract

This paper discusses some of the issues in the use of mass media for health promotion, prevention of disease, and recognition of symptoms in the light of a field study conducted on 720 villagers in 28 villages of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh. The role of mass media and other psychosocial factors in the formation of intentions to acquire health-related information and promotion of actual health behaviours was examined. Results show that beliefs and attitudes towards health care, along with some information-related needs ofpeople, contribute in the formation of intentions. Morespecifically, the tendency to treat media as asourceofstimulation and direction, learning, information, tension-reduction along with positive attitudes explain 44% of variance in intention. Furthermore, variance in actual health promotion behaviours and use of media for health-related information is explained by general impact of media in conjunction with other social factors like social participation in community, anticipating changes in lifesituations, and taking initiative by acceptors. Although attitude, intention and behaviour are related, the link between them is not direct but is mediated by other social factors. In order for mass media to be effective, reinforcement through interpersonal communication as well as change in environment is essential. Excessive reliance on mass media without the coordinated support of formal and informal systems in the community may not besuitablefor thepromotion of health behaviours in rural India.