AbstractsCommunication

This thesis argues that a community radio station can have a complementary role in encouraging people to go for health services in a community that is plagued by a health crisis. There is evidence that the Mzimba Radio Station has managed to encourage people to go for voluntary counseling and testing, condom use, antenatal clinics, among others, because of the utilization of the journalism of attachment. A total of 600 people were interviewed from five different constituencies in the district to gauge the extent at which they use the health services. The interviews with people show that the Mzimba community radio has contributed to the increase in the number of people attending the health services. Qualitative methods such as focus group discussions, interviews and questionnaires were used to get this information from people. In these interviews, it was revealed that people use the two flow model of communication in addition to the traditional one flow model of communication. Of much interest is the fact that the Mzimba community has been using Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory for many generations and this is mirrored in interviews by people in the community in chapter five as people change behavior by observing what others are doing and later copying. UNICEF estimates that one million people are living with the HIV/AIDS in Malawi, and 58 percent of them are girls and women, one of the highest in the world (UNICEF, 2015). In addition to this, World Bank figures indicate that over half of the population were living in poverty in 2010 and 2011 with one-quarter living in extreme poverty and hence unable to buy food making the HIV/AIDS crisis worse (World Bank, 2015). Advisors/Committee Members: Murphy, Padraig.