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Abstract

Among the factors probably causing stigma and discrimination against people living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) (PLWHA) are the public’s inadequate knowledge and strong misconceptions about the pandemic. Having realised this fact, stakeholders intensify efforts at educating the public about HIV/AIDS. Reading is one of the communication strategies they employ to enrich people’s knowledge about the disease. This article, therefore, focused on reading, primarily to investigate its effectiveness as a receptive communication skill, through which the public can be better educated about HIV/AIDS and thus, dispel their misconceptions about the disease and its patients. An experimental method was employed, using 220 respondents. Two separate instruments—attitude scale/questionnaire and an HIV/AIDS-related story—were used. The results showed that absolute majority of respondents (78.2 percent) from the experimental group, which actually read the select HIV/AIDS-related story demonstrate better knowledge about HIV/AIDS than do the respondents from the control group. Thus, the study has established reading as an effective communication strategy for educating people and dispelling their misconceptions about HIV/AIDS and its patients. The findings also showed that there is a statistically significant difference in the attitude of male and female subjects to HIV/AIDS and PLWHA after reading the story.

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Increasing People’s Knowledge about HIV/AIDS

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