Published in Studies in Family Planning, this 20-page paper offers an evaluation of the entertainment-education (E-E) radio soap opera introduced in Tanzania in 1993 called "Twende na Wakati". As explained here, the phrase "Twende na Wakati" means "Let's Go with the Times" (implicitly, "let's control our lives"); the soap opera promoted the two interrelated health issues of family planning and HIV/AIDS prevention in an effort to help support the Government's national population policy (adopted in 1992 in an effort to reduce the natural rate of population growth to less than 2% by the year 2010). In tune with the E-E strategy, which draws on social learning theory, 3 character types are featured in Twende na Wakati: positive and negative role models, and transitional characters (whose attitudes and behaviours change during the course of the soap opera so that they eventually endorse positive values - and are rewarded for that). An epilogue of 30 seconds summarises the educational issues raised in each episode, and explores the show's implications for listeners in an attempt to promote discussion.

As detailed here, the soap opera was evaluated by means of a field experimental design. The radio programme was broadcast by 7 mainland stations of Radio Tanzania; an eighth station broadcast alternative programming from 1993 to 1995, its listenership serving as a comparison area in which contemporaneous changes in family planning adoption were measured. (The soap opera was subsequently broadcast nationwide from 1995 to 1997.) Five independent data sources about the effects of the radio soap opera were gathered through: personal interview surveys (5 annual surveys of approximately 2,750 households in the comparison and the treatment areas), Ministry of Health clinic data (a sample of new family planning adopters in 79 health clinics), script content analysis, analysis of listeners' letters, and Demographic and Health (DHS) surveys.

Evaluators found that the soap opera had strong behavioural effects on family planning adoption in that it increased listeners' self-efficacy regarding family planning adoption and influenced listeners to talk with their spouses and peers about contraception. A key finding was that the soap opera changed listeners' family planning behaviour specifically by stimulating interpersonal - peer-to-peer - communication about the subject. For example, married women who listened and talked about the show with their spouses were more likely than others (64% versus 19%) to adopt family planning methods. (Editor's note: Detailed data about these and other findings - e.g., specific knowledge, attitudes, and practice (KAP)-related indicators - are included in the form of tables embedded within the text of this report. Clinical data related to contraceptive-method adoption are also offered to support the hypothesis that the soap opera stimulated an increase in the rate of family planning adoption when it was broadcast first in the treatment area and later in the comparison area after 1995. Please see the full report for details).

Perhaps these findings can be explained by listeners' perceptions of the soap opera; as reported here, in 4 annual surveys, most listeners perceived the programme as both "very entertaining" (between 64% and 77%) and "very educational" (between 70% and 85%). To that end, listeners reported in the 1994-1997 surveys that they learned about family planning (80%-89%), HIV/AIDS prevention (78%-85%), and the importance of spousal communication (66%-83%) from listening to "Twende na Wakati". Many listeners were found to have become highly involved with the main characters.

The study also revealed that access to radio (ownership, as well as the relative strength and reliability of the broadcasting signal from region to region) is an important determinant of the potential impact of a programme like this one. (In 1992, approximately 33% of Tanzanian households owned a radio, and 46% listened at least once a week, whereas only 0.5% owned a television set and 3% watched). In addition, "Twende na Wakati" enjoyed widespread (and increasing) popularity, helping it reach not only individuals of higher socio-economic status (primary exposure) but also males with lower incomes and less education - a key population, considering their potential for high fertility and resistance to family planning.

In the Discussion section, the authors offer a variety of reflections on their research methodology and its strengths and limitations, as well as on the programme's strategy itself. With regard to the latter, they stress that every such E-E initiative is unique and should be contoured to fit the context; however, they identify the following elements as having contributed to the success of "Twende na Wakati":

1. Use of formative evaluation to facilitate the design of radio messages
2. Use of a values grid to structure the educational content of the episodes
3. A focus on the entertainment element to draw a large audience
4. Explicit use of role models for behavioural change and its consequences
5. The long-running soap opera format, which allows the audience time to both identify with the characters and develop strategies for changing their own behaviour accordingly.

The authors conclude by stressing that the indirect effects of mass-media messages can be powerful in encouraging peer-based communication about the topics they incorporate - thus helping to "clinch" decisions among listeners (and the network of people with whom they interact) to undertake behavioural change, such as by practicing contraception.