What is it about?
Objective: increase knowledge, attitudes and practice of sexual and reproductive health and family planning, to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality rates in Mozambique. Design: an implementation research project’s intermediate evaluation, applying two cross-sectional surveys. The surveys were planned for 316 subjects before and after interventions. Setting: research performed in Natikiri district of Nampula province in northern Mozambique, targeting a sub-urban and rural populations in their homes. Participants: 452 people were surveyed (91 before, 361 after), all belonging to the Macua ethnic group. Interventions: a media campaign (two weekly radio spots, bimonthly theatre performances) was performed for eight months (2017 to 2018) and family health champions’ teachings (monthly home visits) performed for three months, on sexual and reproductive health and family planning. Outcome measures planned and measured were adolescents and adult’s knowledge, attitudes and practice about those. Data were analysed by gender, age group and frequencies, using a confidence interval of 95% (p<0.5 statistically significant). Results: radio spots, community theatre and volunteer champions increased population’s knowledge about sexual and reproductive health and led to a more positive attitude toward family planning. Concerning attitude, results show differences between adults’ proportions before and after: 1) did you hear about sexual and reproductive health (p=0,0425); 2) knows project key messages (p<0,001); 3) knows prenatal visits importance (p=0,0301); 4) access to contraceptives was easy (p<0,001). Adolescents showed statistically significant differences before and after on: 1) knows project key messages (p<0,001); 2) access to contraceptives was easy (p=0,0361). Family planning practice did not increase in both groups. Conclusions: a health education intervention, using a media campaign and local volunteers, is useful to promote mother and child health. There is an unmet need for family planning and the use of modern contraception is below desired practice, needing further research about cultural barriers. Communication for behaviour change activities will pursue and impact will be assessed to document family planning practice improvement.
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Why is it important?
Maternal and infant mortality are both public health and societal problems in Mozambique. Low levels of sexual and reproductive health knowledge and low use of family planning are contributing to this situation. Our research in the northern Nampula Province aims to assess the effect of a media campaign and newly formed family health champions on sexual and reproductive health knowledge and use of family planning.
Perspectives
On-going implementation research evaluation shows that community volunteers and media campaign can improve mother and child health by expanding sexual and reproductive health knowledge and improving motivation for and access to family planning. This study’s external validity is supported by a representative sample of participants and by the local setting’s features, common in Mozambique. We found family planning unmet needs and access barriers that will be further studied in our implementation research.
Prof.Dr. Paulo das Neves Pires
Centro de Saúde de Montalegre
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Improving sexual and reproductive health knowledge and practice in Mozambican families with media campaign and volunteer family health champions, Family Medicine and Community Health, November 2019, BMJ,
DOI: 10.1136/fmch-2018-000089.
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