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.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Agarwal, A. (1989). Communication related need in a developing society with special reference to eastern U.P. Report for Department of Space, Space Application Centre, ISRO, Ahmedabad .

—. ( 1993). Communication related needs in a developing society, Phase II. Research report for Department of Space, Space Application Centre , ISRO, Ahmedabad.

Ajzen, I. & Fishbein, M. (1977). Attitude-behavior relations: A theoretical analysis and review of empirical research. Psychological Bulletin, 84, 888-918.

Capra, F. (1982). The turning point. London: Flamingo.

Crawford, I. , Jason, L.A. , Riordan, N. , & Kaufman J. (1990). AIDS and the community. Journal of Community Psychology, 18, 361-73.

Donohew, L. , Finn, S. , & Christ, W.G. (1988). The nature of news revisited: The roles of affect, schemas, and cognition. In L. Donohew , H.E. Sypher , and E.T. Higgins (Eds.), Communication, Social Cognition and Affect. Hillsdale, NJ.: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Farquhar, J. (1984). The Stanford Five City Project: An overview. In J. Matarazzo , N. Miller , S. Weiss , J.A. Herd , & S.M. Weiss (Eds.), Behavroral health: A handbook of health enhancement and disease prevention. New York: John Wiley.

Finn, S. , & Gorr, M.B. (1988). Social isolation and social support as correlates of television viewing motivations. Communication research , 15, 135-58.

Fishbein, M. & Ajzen, I. (1975). Belief, attitude, invention and behavior. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

10.

Galst, J.P. (1980). Television food commercials and pronutritional public service announcements as determinants of young children's snack choices . Child Development, 51, 935-38.

11.

Green, L.W. & McAlister, A. (1984). Macro-intervention to support health behavior: Some theoretical perspectives and practical reflections. Health Education Quarterly, 11 (3), 323-39.

12.

Hung, B.K. , Ling, L. , & Ong, S.G. (1985). Sources of influence on infant feeding practices in Hong Kong. Social Science & Medicine, 20 (11), 1143-50.

13.

Katz, D. (1985). Cable television and health promotion: A feasibility study with arthritis patients. Health Education Quarterly , 12 (4), 379-89.

14.

Kill, B. & King, L.S. (1983). Historical trends in the use of television in health education. Journal of School Health, 53 (5), 312-15.

15.

Klein, D.M. (1983). Family problem solving and family stress. Marriage and Family Review, 6, 85-112.

16.

Lull, J. (1985). The naturalistic study of media use and youth culture. In K.E. Rosengren , L.A. Wenner , & P. Palmgreen (Eds.), Media gratifications research: Current perspectives . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications .

17.

McAlister A. , Puska, P. , & Salonen, J. (1982). Theory and action for health promotion: Illustrations from the North Karelia Project. American Journal of Public Health, 72, 43-50.

18.

Melkote, S.R. (1991). Communication fordevelopment in the third world . New Delhi: Sage Publications .

19.

Robbrtson, T. , Rossiter, J. , & Gleason, T. (1979). Televised medicine advertising and children. New York: Praeger.

20.

Rubin, A.M. (1985). Uses of daytime television soap operas by college students. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 29 (3), 241-58.

21.

Rubin, A.M. & Perse, E.M. (1987). Audience activity and television news gratifications . Communication Research, 14, 58-84.

22.

Shingi, P.M. , & Mody, B. (1976). The communication effects gap. In E.M. Rogers (Ed.), Communication and development: Criticalperspectives. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

23.

Shtarkshall R. , & Basker, E. (1985). Radio and family planning in Israel: Letters broadcasters . Journal of Communication, 35 (2), 69-81.

24.

Singh, A.K. (1984). Socio-psychological prerequisites of rural development . Social Change, 14, 41-47.

25.

Singhal, A. & Rogers, E.M. (1988). Television soap operas for development in India . Gazette 41 (2), 109-26.

26.

Sinha, D. (1969). Indian villages in transition: A motivational analysis. New Delhi: Associated publishing house.

27.

Swaminathan, M.S. (1994). Draft of national population policy, May, 1994. News item in Times of India, Lucknow ed., September 19, p. 2.

28.

Tripathi, R.C. (1988). Aligning development to values in India. In D. Sinha and H.S.R. Kao (Eds.), Social values and development: Asian perspectives . New Delhi: Sage Publications .

29.

Van Dijk, T.A. & Kintsch, W. (1983). Strategies in discourse analysis New York: Academic.

30.

Wang, G. & Dissanayake, W. (1984). Culture, development and change, some explorative observations. In G. Wang and W. Dissanayake (Eds.), Continuity and change in communication systems. New Jersey : Ablex.

31.

Wildavsky, A. (1977). Doing better and feeling worse: The political pathology of health policy. Daedalus, 106, 105.

32.

Yadava, J.S. (1989). Radio in support of mother-child care. Communicator, March, 24-30.

33.

Zillmann, D. (1985). The experimental exploration of gratifications from media entertainment. In K.E. Rosengren , L.A. Wenner , & P. Palmgreen (Eds.), Media gratifications research: Current perspectives. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.