Ruwan Dare – Results
Listenership:
• Results from the final evaluation show that 70% of respondents in the four states of Kano, Kaduna, Sokoto, and Katsina listened to the broadcast one or more times per week. (These percentages confirm similar listenership levels found in clinic monitoring reports during broadcast).
• After adjusting for age (using 2007 state level census estimates for Nigeria), it was determined that approximately 12,302,400 in the four states listened to Ruwan Dare.
• Listening levels were the same for males and females and no differences in listenership were found by urban or rural location.
• Married respondents (89%) were more likely to listen to the program than unmarried respondents (52%).
• Those with a primary level of education (76%) were more likely to be a regular listener than those with a secondary (73%) or higher (66%) level of education.
• Six out of 10 listeners (60%) agreed that Ruwan Dare was both “entertaining and educational”.
• More than half (55%) of all listeners named at least one character from Ruwan Dare.
Spousal Communication and Discussion about Family Planning:
• The likelihood of respondents saying they had talked with their spouse or partner “once or twice” or “more often” about family planning in the last three months was 4.5* times greater at endline compared to baseline. By sex there were notable differences regarding this indicator: for males there was a notable relative increase of 48% from baseline to endline, however for females there was a sharp relative increase from baseline to endline of 172%. (*Adjusted odds ratio with highly significant p=.0001 controlling for sex, urban/rural location, education, age, marital status, and state).
On this indicator, listeners were 1.7* times more likely than non listeners to say they talked to their spouse or partner “once or twice” or “more often” about family planning in the last three months (*Adjusted odds ratio with p=.048 controlling for age, urban/rural location, education, marital status, and state).
• The likelihood of respondents saying they “discussed the practice of family planning with family, friends, or neighbors” in the past three months was 2.7* times greater at endline compared to baseline. (*Adjusted odds ratio with p=.0001 controlling for age, education, state, and marital status).
On this indicator, listeners were more 1.9* times more likely than nonlisteners to say they “discussed the practice of family planning with family, friends, or neighbors” in the past three months. (*Adjusted odds ratio with p=.0001 controlling for age, education, and marital status).
Birth Spacing and Family Size:
• The likelihood of respondents thinking that “couples should space children 2.5 to 3 years apart” was 1.5* greater at endline compared to baseline. (*Adjusted odds ratio with p=.0009 controlling for sex, urban/rural location, education, age marital status, and state).
On this indicator, listeners were 1.9* times more likely than nonlisteners to think that “couples should space children 2.5 to 3 years apart”. (*Adjusted odds ratio with p=.0007 controlling for sex, urban/rural location, education, age marital status, and state).
• Listeners were 1.7* times more likely than nonlisteners to say “yes” when asked if “couples should share responsibility for making decisions about family size”. (*Adjusted odds ratio with p=.038 controlling for sex, urban/rural location, education, age marital status, and state).
• The likelihood of respondents saying they did not want to have another child was 5.7* times greater at endline compared to baseline. (*Adjusted odds ratio with p=.0001 controlling for sex, urban/rural location, education, age, marital status, and state).
• At baseline, the mean desired number of children for all respondents was 7.43 (females 7.71, males 7.03) and this decreased significantly* to 5.93 by endline (females 5.39, males 6.96), most notably among females. (*Non-parametric t-test p<.0001).
Contraceptive Use:
• The likelihood of respondents saying they “currently use something to delay or avoid pregnancy” was 5.6* times greater at endline compared to baseline. (*Adjusted odds ratio with highly significant p=.0001 controlling for sex, urban/rural location, education, age, marital status, and state).
On this indicator, listeners were 2.4* times as likely as nonlisteners to say they “currently use something to delay or avoid pregnancy”. (*Adjusted odds ratio with p=.015 when controlling for sex, urban/rural location, education, age, marital status, and state).
Family Planning Norms, Attitudes, and Intentions
• The likelihood of respondents thinking that married couples in the community use family planning/contraception was 1.4* times greater at endline compared to baseline. (*Adjusted odds ratio with p=.03 controlling for sex, urban/rural location, education, age, and state).
• The likelihood of unmarried respondents saying “they would use contraceptives if married” was nearly two times greater at endline compared to baseline. (Adjusted odds ratio (1.9) with p=.03 controlling for sex, urban/rural location, education, age, and state).
• Respondents who were not married or in a union were asked if they would “ever use contraceptives if married”; the likelihood of answering “yes” was 1.9* greater at endline compared to baseline. (*Adjusted odds ratio with significant p=.01controlling for sex, urban/rural location, education, age, marital status and state).
• The likelihood of respondents thinking that “people should plan how many children they have” was 1.4* times greater at endline compared to baseline. (*Adjusted odds ratio with significant p=.01 controlling for sex, urban/rural location, education, age, marital status and state).
On this indicator, listeners were nearly two times as likely as nonlisteners to think that “people should plan how many children they have.” (Adjusted odds ratio (1.9) with significant p=.01 controlling for sex, urban/rural location, education, age, marital status and state).
• Listeners were twice as likely as nonlisteners to think that think that the ideal age for childbearing is 16 or older. (*Adjusted odds ratio (1.9) with significant p=.01) controlling for sex, urban/rural location, education, age, marital status and state).
• Listeners were 1.6* times as likely as nonlisteners to think that “children 12-14 should be taught about using condoms to avoid AIDS.” (*Adjusted odds ratio with significant p=.04 controlling for marital status, state, and education).
Religion and Family Planning:
• The likelihood of respondents saying that using contraceptives is not “against the will of Allah” was 3.6* times greater at endline compared to baseline. (*Adjusted odds ratio with highly significant p=.0001 controlling for sex, location, education, age, marital status and state).
On this indicator, listeners were 1.5* times more likely than nonlisteners to say that using contraceptives is not “against the will of Allah”. (*Adjusted odds ratio with highly significant p=.042 controlling for sex, location, education, age, marital status and state).
Knowledge of Source of Family Planning:
• Listeners were 1.7* times more likely than nonlisteners to “know a place to obtain a method of family planning”. (*Adjusted odds ratio with highly significant p=.016 controlling for sex, location, education, age, marital status and state).
Clinic Monitoring:
• To monitor the effects of the program on listeners’ behaviors, PMC established 11 clinic research sites in the four states. Four rounds of client exit interviews were conducted during the broadcast period. The survey data was analyzed to determine motivating factors for new clients seeking reproductive health and family planning services. The results showed that Ruwan Dare achieved significant success with increasingly higher percentages of new clients reporting seeking services because of listening to Ruwan Dare. (See Table 1).
Monitoring Period Percent motivated by Ruwan Dare
| Round 1: October 2007 – December 2007 | 55% |
| Round 2: January 2008 – April 2008 | 66% |
| Round 3: May 2008 – July 2008 | 64% |
| Round 4: September 2008 – December 2008 | 67% |
Table 1. Percent of new clients motivated by Ruwan Dare radio serial drama.
