Scale-up of the Safe Male Circumcision Campaign in non Traditionally Circumcising Areas:
Pre-test Brief
Background
Health Communication Partnership and the Ministry of Health are in the process of designing materials for scaling up safe male circumcision services in the country. The campaign will target adult males within the age bracket of 25-55years in non traditionally circumcising areas as well as women aged between 25-40 years whose partners are uncircumcised. HCP has contracted QG Saatchi & Saatchi (an AD Agency) to help with developing the campaign materials. These include TV commercials i.e. I want a husband and mwami. Before finalizing the materials, story boards for the two TV commercials have been developed for pretesting in order to seek the views and input of the campaign’s target audiences on the developed materials.
Pre-test Objectives
The objectives of the pre-test exercise are to: -
· Find out if the target audiences can easily understand the messages contained in the materials developed.
· To establish if the materials developed are attractive to the target audience.
· Establish whether the target audience relate to the materials developed.
· Establish whether there is anything that is offensive or confusing in the messages.
· Collect feedback about likes, dislikes and possible suggestions for improving the materials.
Methodology
Two Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) will be conducted in Kampala targeting uncircumcised males aged 25-55 years and females in relationships with uncircumcised partners aged 25-40 years (targeted as influencers).
Table 1: Description of FGDs
District / Materials to be pretested / Type of FGD / No. of FGDS / No. of Respondents*Kampala / -Mwami Story board
-I want a husband Story board / Uncircumcised males aged 25-35 years / 2 / 24
-Mwami Story board
-I want a husband Story board / Females with Uncircumcised Partners aged 25 – 35 years
Total / 2 / 24[(]
As shown in the table FGD participants will be divided according to their sex and age categories. The FGDs will be conducted by the male and female Research Assistants (university graduates).
Selection and screening of FGD respondents:
Infectious Disease Institute will mobilise the required respondents. FGD participants will be selected based on the following characteristics;
· Uncircumcised males aged 25-55 years.
· Females aged 25 – 40 years who are in relationships with or married to uncircumcised partners.
· Fluent in English because all materials are in the same language.
· Should not be peer educators or health educators.
The screening criteria will be sent out to the mobilizer before identification of FGD respondents takes place. Before beginning the group discussion, Research Assistants will screen the mobilized FGD respondents for the above characteristics and those who do not qualify will not be allowed into the FGDs.
Focus Group Venues:
The local mobilizer will also be tasked with identifying and hiring a venue for conducting the FGDs. The venue should be:
· Within the locality of where the FGD respondents live
· Devoid of interruptions like noise and people
· Private to allow people to express their opinions without fear
Timelines:
Activity / DateOrientation of Research Assistants / 08th August 2011
Conducting of the Pre-test Exercise / 08th August 2011
Debriefing / 10th August 2011
Presentation of Final Report for the Pre-test Exercise / 12th August 2011
Safe Male Circumcision (Non Traditional) Communication Campaign Concept Testing
FGD GUIDE FOR THE STORY BOARDS
Date: ______
District______Location: ______
FGD Facilitator: ______Note Taker: ______
No of Respondents: ______
INTRODUCTION:
Good morning/ afternoon my name is ______and my colleague is ______we are working with the Health Communication Partnership (HCP). HCP in collaboration with the Ministry of Health is in the process of designing materials for its upcoming Safe Male Circumcision Communication Campaign in non traditional circumcising areas. These include TV commercials i.e. I want a husband and mwami. Before finalizing the materials, story boards for the two TV commercials have been developed.
Today we are here to share with you two story boards that have been developed in order to seek your views and input into them before we select the best execution to use in developing TVCs for the campaign.
We are going to show you one story board and thereafter have a discussion around it using the developed questions. The same procedure will be used for the second story board. Finally we shall ask you to select the best story board and give reasons for your choice. Remember this is just a discussion and therefore there are no wrong or right answers. We therefore expect you to tell us everything you think about the story boards. We shall use the feedback that you give us to select the best story board for the campaign.
Instructions for the FGD Facilitator:
- Before starting the FGD, ensure that each panel of the story boards are labelled with letters A, B, C, D,…. in order to accurately capture the views of participants.
- Show panel A to all respondents and let them read through the messages and look at the illustration(s)
- Conduct a focus group discussion using the guide below by asking the listed questions.
- After asking questions on each of the panels, please ask questions about the story board as whole.
FGD Discussion Questions:
Instruction: For each panel, ask FGD participants the following questions1. What did you learn from the panel?
2. Are there any words or phrases that you do not understand on this panel? If Yes mention them.
3. Do the illustration(s) match with the words/messages on the panel?
Questions about the Story Board as a whole:
1. In your own words, what do you think this story board is saying?
2. Who do you think this story board is meant for? (Describe the person’s age, sex, marital status, economic status, rural/urban etc).
3. Is there anything about the story board that might offend or confuse you or some other people? If Yes elaborate.
Selection of the Best Story Board:
Instruction: Show the two story boards to the participants and proceed to ask the question below;
1. Which of these story boards do you like most? (Probe why)
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[(]* Each Focus group should be composed of between 8 to 12 respondents