Media/Materials Clearinghouse (M/MC)

Health Communication Materials Database

M/MC ID# TD SOA 74

English Title: [Promotional baseball cap]
Series Title: | Tsha tsha |
Media Format: Clothing
Date: No Date
Country: South Africa
Subjects: AIDS, Television Program, Promotion, JHU/HCP
Audience: General
Languages: Xhosa
Description: Nylon baseball cap. Black with gray piping and logo. One size fits all.
Producers: South African Broadcast Corporation (SABC), Health Communication Partnership (HCP)
Contact: South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC)
Johannesburg|Private Bag X1
Auckland Park, 2006
South Africa
Phone: 011-714-9111
Email: info@sabc.co.za
Website: http://www.sabc.co.za

Abstract: Promotional baseball cap for Tsha Tsha, a South African educational television drama series that focuses on the universe of young people engaging in exploring love, sex and relationships in a world affected by the realities of HIV/AIDS.

Notes: Tsha Tsha is a multi-part entertainment education television drama series commissioned by SABC Education and produced by CADRE and Curious Pictures. Additional support is provided by Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Communications Programs and funding is provided by USAID. The series focuses on young people living in a world affected by HIV/AIDS and other social problems. HIV/AIDS issues dealt with in the first 13 episodes include: the plight of young people having to care for sick and dying parents, including the financial and social risks associated with this and the burden of responsibility for younger siblings; confronting the possibility of being HIV positive and undergoing Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) and the attendant personal social challenges of discovering that one is HIV positive; dealing with HIV-related stigma as a community; the challenges of adopting HIV risk avoidance behaviors including condom use, secondary abstinence, faithfulness and use of alternative forms of sexual expression; and recognizing the risks of sexual violence.
|In addition to these specific themes the series has as an underlying concern, namely, the choices which young people exercise in choosing and shaping relationships. This is closely tied to questions of identity and in particular the ways in which young people define themselves in relation to others and are in turn defined by the way that others define them. Much of the learning undergone by the principal characters are consequent to interactions with others. The series plays strongly on the need to understand how people learn about themselves through others and through taking cognizance of the responses of others.
|Tsha Tsha has been broadcast since 2003 and was originally shown on Fridays at 8:30 pm. It is currently broadcast at 8:30 pm on Wednesday evenings on SABC1 and the last series ran from October 2004 to April 2005. It achieves an audience share of 40-50% during the time slot it is broadcast and reaches in excess of 2-million viewers. With a view to encouraging post-broadcast discussion, radio talk shows focusing on Tsha Tsha themes are broadcast in nine languages on Thursday and Friday afternoons. An interactive website is also hosted by SABC.Tsha Tsha is used in non-broadcast contexts including, for example, being distributed to 40 Higher Education Institutions through CADRE�s partner organization, DramAidE. On some of these campuses Big Screen viewings are held and are supplemented by facilitated discussions, where themes, students� opinions, experiences and feelings are shared. The incorporation of Tsha Tsha into the HIV/AIDS Program in over 200 correctional services facilities across South Africa is also in the planning stages. less

Formative Research: Research has been an intrinsic part of the development of Tsha Tsha. The initial research process, which formed part of a competitive bidding process, based on a call for proposals by SABC Education, was conceptual in nature. It involved the setting out of methodological processes and principles of the series along with potential settings, characters and scenarios. The initial conceptual framework was used for the development and production of a pilot episode. Research beyond the pilot stage involved a team of researchers and members of the production team visiting Peddie, exploring the town, and becoming familiar with the people and places that are important in the lives of the young people living there. Numerous focus groups were run with people representing a broad range of community interests,7 with an emphasis on understanding key formative dynamics in the lives of young people. People were invited to share stories that were important in their own lives and the life of the community. Research included investigation of the culture of ballroom dancing in the Eastern Cape through observation and interviews with dancers and those involved in organising ballroom dancing activities. At the same time, a review of key HIV/AIDS issues relevant to young people in the area were conducted through thematic focus groups and interviews, as well material previously gathered by CADRE in the rural areas of the Eastern Cape. The development process involved moving back-and-forth between creative concepts and research. This included testing early ideas for characters and story outlines through focus group research with young people. These research sessions were conducted in Grahamstown and Johannesburg with the intention of tapping into the perceptions of both rural and urban audiences and ensuring that the emerging product was of interest and credible in both settings. less

Pretesting: The script development process involved the creation of storylines that occurred in single episodes, or spanned two or more episodes. This was done in the context of the broad storyline over each block of 13 episodes for each character. In this process the basic elements of characters could be set out in a detailed �character bible� which defined the history and personality of the main and secondary characters. This incorporated their likely responses to each other and the community. This process embodied, in broad terms, the events to which they were likely to be exposed � for example, it defined that Viwe would be HIV positive and that Andile would be a talented but reluctant dancer. Development of story-beats fleshed out the main events of the story for each episode and led to further clarification of the characters. Subsequently, a team of writers expanded the beats into a script format. Throughout these processes there was ongoing testing of the developing script through focus groups and participatory workshops in Johannesburg and Peddie. The story was assessed for cultural and social authenticity, for likeability and interest, and for response. Research participants commented in detail on what they expected of characters, what they found jarring or inappropriate and what they felt was being conveyed by the drama. Results of these focus group discussions were compiled into reports that were fed back to the writers who accordingly reworked the scripts. At various points further focus groups and interviews were conducted � for example, with people living with HIV/AIDS and health workers � to check the script from the perspective of -their specific experience. less

Summative Evaluation: A panel survey design was used to evaluate the drama. The final wave of data collection revealed that 68% had watched some episodes of the drama and 32% did not watch it at all. Because a majority of respondents watched the drama a comprehensive scale of recall of the drama was used to construct a continuous measure of exposure to it. This measure was divided at the median to produce two groups for... more

Summative Evaluation Links:
Two-page Communication Impact
Presentation on measuring the show's impact
Key findings of the Evaluation of Episodes 1-26, 61 pgs

	The Health Communication Partnership Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health/Center for Communication Programs in partnership with Academy for Educational Development • Save the Children • The International HIV/AIDS Alliance Tulane University's School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine
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