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The health communication strategy known as entertainment–education can be traced in large part to Miguel Sabido and the methodology he developed using telenovelas in Latin America in the 1960s and 1970s. Entertainment–education has evolved from a long-running narrative approach using traditional media to the addition of new media and transmedia formats. In recent years, entertainment–education programs using social media have increased, yet few studies have explored the shared characteristics and experiences of social media users who engage with these programs. This qualitative study aimed TO examine publicly available social media data (i.e. YouTube and Instagram comments) in response to Girlsplained, an online entertainment–education program designed with objectives related to sexual health and HIV prevention among Black, Asian, and minority ethnic women in the United Kingdom. A process of directed content analysis uncovered five themes of engagement: characters and the narrative; social media; gender and race; HIV/PrEP; and sex and pregnancy prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sabido Methodology (TSM) is recognised as a discrete methodology of entertainment-education (EE). EE programmes are intentionally designed to entertain and educate through the weaving in of important health and social messaging into powerful storytelling. Sabido-style dramas are highly effective in promoting social and behaviour change around a myriad of issues and its usefulness has been widely documented in long-running serial dramas on traditional media. There is little documentation, however, of how TSM could be applied to newer media, such as social media (SM). Girlsplained was created with the aim of addressing the sexual health of young Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) women in the United Kingdom. Key lessons from the effort can be used to build a proposed framework for adapting TSM to SM, i.e., The Sabido Methodology for Social Media (TSM4SM). We hypothesise 4 key features of TSM4SM should include: 1) the major tenets of TSM in a web-based drama with shorter story arcs; 2) the use of humour as per the Laugh Model framework to create a fourth character; 3) the use of transmedia to create a SM feed following the life of the transitional character based on TSM principles; and 4) a target audience of younger people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a marked increase in the literature in recent years about social norms, what they are, and how to measure them. New theoretical connections indicate specific significance for those working with global health programs that use narrative interventions, such as mass, print, and community media. The literature is dense, however. Different terms describe similar constructs, and the sheer number of new articles and emerging academic frameworks can be overwhelming. In this letter, we briefly summarize current social norms and narrative theorizing and provide examples of global programs that have effectively applied these theories. In so doing, we hope to further the conversation on what differentiates narrative programs designed to shift social norms, as compared to non-narrative programs and/or programs that seek to influence knowledge, attitudes, and practices alone. We conclude with implications for practitioners designing and implementing global health programs that target social norms with narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contraceptive prevalence (CPR) in North West Nigeria is the lowest in the country coinciding with high fertility driven primarily by large family ideation. Research shows that communication about family planning, especially between spouses/partners leads to adoption of a modern method of contraception. To promote spouse and partner communication and to increase family planning use, an entertainmenteducation radio serial drama was broadcast featuring characters that modelled how to discuss having smaller families, birth spacing, contraceptive use, and maternal and child health. A post-test representative survey of 649 participants found that 71 percent listened to the programme each week. Multivariate analysis found that regular listeners were 2.4 (95% CI 1.4, 4.3) times more likely than nonlisteners to say they "currently use something to delay or avoid pregnancy." On several other behavioural and attitudinal indicators, results showed that regular listeners to the programme had more favourable scores than non-listeners to the programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]