New directions in family planning communication: 12 predictions for the 1990s
Piotrow, P.T.; Rimon, J.G.
Asia-Pacific Population Journal 3(4): 17-32
1988
ISSN/ISBN: 0259-238X PMID: 12342238 Document Number: 375183
Good communication about family planning is needed for many reasons: 1) what many people think they know about family planning is wrong, 2) about 25% of the Asian population (600 million people) are between the ages of 10 and 19 and they need to be informed, 3) individuals must want to use family planning so they will use it regularly and effectively, and 4) people hear competing messages from those opposed to family planning. The authors make the following predictions for the field of family planning IEC in the 1990s: 1) family planning communication will have many different audiences, so messages and media will have to be developed for very specific groups; 2) more time will be spent on research, learning about specific audiences, the media, and background before developing messages, and messages and products will be carefully tested before being widely distributed; 3) peer groups will be used more to reach peer groups; 4) entertainment will reach and teach wider audiences about family planning, AIDS, and sexual responsibility (promoting "enter-education," a combination of entertainment and education); 5) audiences will participate more actively in different kinds of family planning communication, including community mobilization and individual involvement; 6) family planning messages will be much more personal, using human interest stories to capture and persuade the audience; 7) multiple media will be used more and more to get the message across; 8) the best quality family planning entertainment materials will be able to compete with commercial products and produce revenue; 9) campaigns and other communications will be oriented towards large regional markets; 10) more creative and more sympathetic communication in clinics and by health care providers will increase acceptance and continuation rates for many methods; 11) communication among family planning professionals will increasingly depend on effective national population information centers that can use appropriate modern technology, and 12) more resources and creative effort will be put into evaluation of all forms of IEC and this evaluation will show that well-planned and well-implemented IEC programs can and do lead to behavioral change in family planning.