scholarly journals Role of mass media in increasing knowledge and practices of mothers on IYCF: findings from a community trial in rural Bangladesh

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saidur Rahman Mashreky ◽  
Fazlur Rahman ◽  
Aminur Rahman ◽  
Abu Talab ◽  
Zakia Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
Mass Media ◽  
Interpersonal Communication ◽  
Cluster Randomized Trial ◽  
Improvement Rate ◽  
Rural Bangladesh ◽  
Counseling Intervention ◽  
Cluster Randomized ◽  
Changing Knowledge ◽  
The Right

Poor IYCF (Infant and Young Children Feeding) practices are factors of poor nutrition among infants and young children in developing countries including Bangladesh. To address this problem, a national mass media campaign was launched using television channels along with home counseling. The study was designed to explore the effect of IYCF intervention on changing knowledge and practices of mothers in rural Bangladesh. The study used a cluster randomized trial design where six unions were randomized to allocate them to 'only mass media intervention (intervention-I)' or 'mass media + direct counseling (Intervention-II)'. Three unions were subjected to 'intervention-I' and the other three were subjected to 'intervention-II'. In intervention-I areas, the knowledge of initiation of breast feeding was improved by 8.5% and practice was improved by 23.7%. It was 17.9% and 16.6% respectively in intervention-II areas. In intervention-I areas knowledge about initiation of complementary feeding improved by 2.7% and in practice it was 19.3%. In intervention-II areas it was 8.6% and 21.3% respectively. Regarding giving the right quantity of complementary food, in intervention-I areas the improvement rate was 6.2% for children between 7-8 months old and 34% for children between 9-12 months old. In intervention-II areas it was 13.7% for children between 7-8 months old and 56.8% for children between 9-12 months old. Significant improvements were found in both the intervention areas, but changes were almost similar in both groups. Coverage of interpersonal communication was found to be very low. Improvement of IYCF knowledge and practice might be the contribution of mass media.South East Asia Journal of Public Health Vol.5(1) 2015: 18-24

scholarly journals Mass Communication

Communication ◽  
2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans-Bernd Brosius ◽  
Veronika Karnowski
Keyword(s):  
Mass Media ◽  
Interpersonal Communication ◽  
Mass Communication ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Single Type ◽  
Audiovisual Communication ◽  
Communication Modes ◽  
Media Systems ◽  
To Come ◽  
The Right

Mass communication can be best described by its counterparts. With regard to the number of people involved, mass communication has many participants, whereas interpersonal communication has few. With regard to visibility, mass communication is highly visible and public; private communication is hidden from others. Mass-communication messages are mostly provided by media professionals who collect, process, structure, and distribute information. It is a one-to-many communication with little feedback possibilities. In mass societies, mass communication is probably the most effective way of finding, discussing, and resolving issues that are relevant for the existence of a given society. Accordingly, research in mass communication is mainly concerned with its effects. Scholars have developed many theories—such as agenda setting—that are focusing on the beneficial and detrimental effects of the mass media. Many other topics are indirectly related to the effects of mass communication, such as freedom of the press, journalism, or media systems, but also entertainment. The internet and its diverse communication modes serve as a challenge to this role of mass communication. Mass communication is often framed within a normative point of view: Mass media, particularly radio, television, and other instances of audiovisual communication, enable a mass society to exchange views effectively on important problems and issues, thus helping democracies to come to the right decisions. In terms of usage, however, audiovisual mass media mostly carry entertainment content. Entertainment, however, might not be without political and societal consequences (e.g., cultivation theory). Although mass-communication content includes many genres and modalities and appears across all media, this entry focuses more on processes and intellectual arcs that transcend any single type of content.

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