Factors influencing the effectiveness of social programs: the case of TICAH's sexual and reproductive health program

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the factors that influence the effectiveness of social programs especially sexual and reproductive health programs aimed at behavior change for purposes of HIV / AIDS prevention. This study was guided by the following objectives, which also formed the basis of the research questions; to determine the extent to which culture, social media and organizational capacity influenced the effectiveness of behavior change programs. The study also aimed to carry out a thorough analysis of the program components and how far they were appropriate to the achievement of the program purposes and objectives} assess the extent to which culture, social media and organizational capacity affected the effectiveness of social programs, identify key developments and trends in the HIV / AIDS response and suggest remedial measures required. The research design used was descriptive in nature and focused on the behavior change programs and their effectiveness with a particular reference to the Trust for Indigenous Culture and Health (TICAH) sexual and reproductive health behavior change program. Stratified random sampling was used to select a sample size of 126 respondents. The respondents were male and female between ages 18 years and 50 years. Information was collected using a questionnaire by the researcher and administered by two trained research assistants under the researcher's guidance. Data was analyzed using the Descriptive statistics in particular measures of central tendency and findings presented by the aid of tables. The study concluded that among the three factors namely; culture, social media and organization capacity; culture had the greatest impact on the effectiveness of the sexual and reproductive health programs, followed by organization capacity and then social media. Further, the determinants of the impact of the program on individual behavior change included; number of meeting attended under TICAH's HIV program, amount of information received under TICAH's HIV prevention change program, and number services received under TICAH's prevention behavior change program.