Students’ figurative communication of malaria messages, belief, norms, and practices in Oromia, Ethiopia: A qualitative content analysis approach

BACKGROUND: School engagement is an emerging strategy and proven potent vehicles for social and behavioral change communication (SBCC) intervention to prevent and control malaria. Little was known about the figurative speeches used in the malaria messages disseminated and communicated by school students. Therefore, this study evaluated the figurative speeches used in the poems to convey messages related to malarial perceptions, beliefs, norms and practices to prevent and control malaria. METHODS: A qualitative content analysis was conducted to explore the figurative speeches used in malaria messages conveyed in poems produced by primary school students. Twenty poems were purposively selected from twenty schools across rural villages in five districts of Jimma Zone. Data were analyzed using ATLAS.ti version 7.1.4 software. The figurative speeches were presented using central themes and categories supported with quotations. RESULTS: The predominantly used figurative speeches were simile, metaphor, personification and hyperbole. Simile was used to express the nature of anopheles mosquito, and sign and symptoms of malaria. The metaphor was used to express malaria, severity/seriousness of malaria and Insecticide-Treated Net (ITN); and also to express the relationship between persons ITN malpractice and its effect on their health. Personification was used to express the nature of anopheles mosquito and malaria. Finally, hyperbole was used to express nature of anopheles mosquito, severity of malaria and exaggerated effect of ITN and Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS). CONCLUSIONS: The students conveyed messages related to malarial perceptions, beliefs, norms and practices of the local community to prevent and control malaria through different types of figurative speeches. Therefore, conceptualizing the local norms, beliefs, values, perception and practices, and expressing in different figurative speeches to convey messages and convince the local community might be important to bring the desired or intended behavioral change.