Abstract:
In recent times, the use of audiovisual media to communicate and support maternal
health messages have become germane to antenatal health education in Ghana.
Despite this interest, studies on the use of audiovisual media for maternal health
education in general and its reception are relatively scanty in Ghana. Hence, the study
focused on designing persuasive audiovisual on maternal nutrition and examining
health workers and pregnant women perceptions about the use of the audiovisual
media antenatal educational setting. The study amalgamated the Persuasive Health
Message Framework, the Multimedia Learning Theory, the Technology Acceptance
Model and the Decoding-Encoding Model into a conceptual framework to situate and
ground the study. The study was situated in the interpretivism paradigms; hence the
qualitative approach was used. The study used the artistic research design and
structured it along three stages: pre-studio, studio and post-studio research. The
research employed the purposive and convenience sampling techniques with a total
sample of thirty (30) participants from government health facilities in the Ga South
Municipal Assembly. Interviews, observation and visual study were used for data
collection. Again, the study used thematic and textual analysis used during data
analysis. Findings from pre-studio research revealed that there were no officially
designed videos from the Ghana Health Service to support antenatal education. Thus,
available visual aids on maternal nutrition are predominately print materials even
though it emerged that videos were mostly preferred. Consequently, health officers
resort to exotic videos from internet sources despite serious communication
limitation. During studio research, storyboards and animatics were used to conduct
audience research which helped to refine the form and content of the video. During
actual production cinematic elements and aesthetics decisions were guided by
cognitive theory of multimedia learning. The post-studio research revealed that health
workers viewed the persuasive video very useful and easy to use due to threat and
efficacy elements which improved understanding among pregnant women and
efficiency among health workers. Despite the positive impact of efficacy and threat
elements which shaped and generated preferred readings among the selected pregnant
women, susceptible elements produced negotiated meanings and identities among
pregnant women due to strong religious beliefs. The study concluded that integration
of audiovisual media into antenatal education sessions improved the effectiveness the
education and reception among the selected pregnant women. The study recommends
the adoption of persuasive audiovisual media into all pregnancy schools to support
effective antenatal health education.
Description:
A thesis in the Department of Music Education,
School of Creative Arts, submitted to the School of Graduate
Studies, in partial fulfilment
Of the requirements for the award of the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
(Arts and Culture)
In the University of Education, Winneba
FEBRUARY, 2021