Safe Male Circumcision Community Mobilisation Video

SAFE MALE CIRCUMCISION COMMUNITY MOBILISATION VIDEO

PRE-TEST REPORT

APRIL 13TH, 2012

Table of Contents

Background

Objectives of the pre-test exercise

Methodology

Selection and screening of FGD participants

Focus Group Venues

Findings

Information contained in the Video

Target Audients

Attitude towards the video

Clarity of the video

Suggested Improvements

Conclusion

Background:

Health Communication Partnership is currently supporting the Ministry of Health to produce a fifteen (15) minute male circumcision video that will be used to motivate Ugandan adult male men to seek male circumcision. The video will help allay any fears the public might have about SMC and explain the relationship between SMC and HIV. Before finalizing the video, a pre-test exercise was conducted in order to seek views and input from the target audience on the video.

The objectives of the pre-test exercise were to:

1. Find out whether the target audience can easily understand the messages contained in the video.
2. Establish whether the video can motivate men to get circumcised.
3. To establish whether there is anything offensive or confusing in the video.
4. Collect feedback about likes, dislikes and possible suggestions for improving the materials.

Pre-test Methodology

Two focus group discussions (FGDs), each comprising of 8-12 respondents were conducted targeting uncircumcised males aged 25-55 years and females in relationships with uncircumcised partners aged 25-40 years (targeted as influencers). The respondents were selected by local mobilizers with the help of staff from Kisenyi Health Centre. The FGDs were conducted by two male and female graduate research assistants who were recruited from a pool normally used by HCP. They were invited by HCP for a meeting to orient them about SMC campaign, the community mobilisation video developed and the tools that were to be used in the pre-test as well as writing the pretest report.

Table 1: Description of the FGDs

As shown in table 1, FGD participants were divided according to their sex and age categories

Selection and Screening of FGD participants

AIDS Information centre helped in identifying two community mobilizers who selected the required respondents at Kisenyi Health Centre IV. FGD participants were selected based on the following characteristics.

Respondents were supposed to be;

• Uncircumcised males aged 25-35 years
• Females with uncircumcised partners aged 25-35 years
• Fluent in English
• Not peer educators, health educators, university students and graduates

The screening criterion was sent to the mobilizers before identification of the FGD participants. Research Assistants also screened the mobilised FGD participants for the above characteristics and those who did not qualify were not allowed to participate in the FGDs.

Focus Group Venues

The local mobilizers were tasked with identifying and hiring venues for conducting the FGDs. The venues were:

• Within the locality of where the FGD respondents live
• Devoid of interruptions like noise and people
• Private to allow people express their opinions without fear

Pre-test Findings:

This section presents the findings consistent with the objectives for the pre-test exercise.

Messages Contained in the Video:

Majority respondents understood the messages contained in the video. They mentioned that the video was talking about safe male circumcision and its importance in HIV prevention. Male respondents specifically said that the video was telling them toget circumcised in order to reduce their chances of getting HIV and other STIs. Relatedly a few men thought the video was encouraging their uncircumcised peers to undergo the procedure because there is no pain involved in the whole process and one can put on their pants immediately after the surgery. Female respondents further mentioned that the video largely communicates the benefits that a circumcised man enjoys and how his female partner can also benefit. Through the testimonies from the people in the video, the respondents learnt that an HIV test is done first before circumcision and then the procedure takes about 30 minutes. From the discussions, it was clear that the respondents learnt a lot of information from the video.

Target Audience:

Majority of the respondents indicated that the video is targeting all people who are sexually active irrespective of their education level, tribe or residence. They reasoned that circumcision needs spousal approval and support especially during the healing process. However no respondent mentioned uncircumcised men and their partners as the target audience.

Opinions aboutSMC after watching the Video:

Majority of the respondents had positive opinions about safe male circumcision after watching the video. They thought it was a healthy practice to adopt in order to reduce the chances of HIV transmission. They mentioned that the video contains all the information required for someone to make an informed choice for circumcision.

“Safe male circumcision is the way to go in order to reduce the chances of HIV transmission”. (Male Respondent)

Other respondents indicated that SMC was a quick and painless procedure owing to the fact that in the video the surgeons were talking to the men undergoing circumcision and the atmosphere was not as tense as expected.

“The ease with which the doctors talk to the clients during the procedure indicates that there is no pain. This also can motivate those who fear the pain” (Female Respondent)

Asked whether the video would motivate men to get circumcised, all respondents agreed that those who watch it are more likely to consider undergoing circumcision. To some respondents using a religious leader was a good move because it was bound to allay fears about circumcision being fronted as a way to Islamise people.

“The pastor also mentions that circumcision cannot change ones religion. To me this statement can motivate men to get circumcised especially for those who fear undergoing the procedure thinking they will be turned into Muslims” (Male Respondent)

Other respondents said that the simplified illustrations on how HIV enters the human body the fact that circumcised men walked away putting on their trousers and women were shown to be supportive of their partners throughout the whole process were effective at motivating men to get circumcised.

“The demonstrations of how the HIV virus hides under the fore skin of the penis until it enters the body can also make you go for circumcision” (Male Respondent)

“When someone looks at how one walks from the facility after circumcision in their pants, this can allay the fears especially about pain” (Male Respondent)

“The fact that women are shown to support their partners before and after circumcision is most likely to motivate men to get circumcised.(Female Respondent)

Clarity of the Video:

Almost all respondents mentioned that the video was very clear and that the information was adequate to influence men to get circumcised. They liked the different settings used in the video for both rural and urban people giving their testimonies. There were no offensive words/statements cited in the video.

Suggested Improvements

The respondents made the following suggestions to improve on the video

• To put more pictures reflecting the village setting and other categories of people like Boda boda riders.
• The information that safe male circumcision is free in government health facilities was missing and therefore should be included.
• The age at which one should be circumcisedneeds to be mentioned.

Conclusion

Overall the information in the video was understood and majority of the respondents observed that the video would motivate more men to get circumcised. As part of finalizing the video, there is need for the SMC team to consider the changes proposed by the respondents.

1 | Page