| dc.description.abstract | This study sought to investigate the utilization of mass media messages for the
implementation of patients’ rights among the public of the Mt. Elgon sub-county,
Bungoma County. In health, media has been used to popularize new diseases and medical
services offered. However, there is little information on its contribution in patients’ rights
communication. Globally patients’ harm contributes to over 2.6 million deaths annually
among low and middle-income countries. Patients’ rights violation cases have continued
to be reported in Kenya despite the policies contained in the new Kenyan constitution
promulgated in 2010 and the Kenya National Patients’ Rights Charter 2013. This is
attributed to low health literacy levels on patients’ rights among the public. This
questions mass media’s role of informing, educating and monitoring implementation of
such policies in society. The study objectives were to: examine the nature of media
messages disseminated on patients’ rights among residents of Mt.Elgon sub-county;
determine the perception of public towards mass media messaging on patients’ rights
among residents of Mt.Elgon sub-county; establish the challenges faced in the
dissemination of mass media messages on patients’ rights among residents of Mt.Elgon
sub-county and determine suitable mass media messaging for effective implementation of
patients’ rights among residents of Mt.Elgon sub-county. The study was guided by the
tenets of the agenda setting theory and the diffusion of innovations theory of the mass
media. Exploratory sequential research design of the mixed methods research approach
was applied. The study was conducted in Chemoge and Kaptama sub-locations of Mt.
Elgon Sub-County and the population studied included: adult residents of the identified
sub-locations, media practitioners and health policymakers. From a total population of
13204 adult residents, using Mungenda and Mugenda (2003), 10% was selected for the
study totaling 130 persons. Further, 72 members of the population were purposively
selected for focus group discussions. In addition, 8 key informants including 2 health
policy experts and 6 health journalists drawn from leading national media houses in
Kenya were interviewed. Data was collected through tools a questionnaire, interview
guides (one for health policy experts and another for health journalists), and a focus
group discussion schedule. Content validity was analyzed and reliability calculated
Cronbach Alpha coefficient, .84 was obtained. Trustworthiness of qualitative methods
and data was observed. The qualitative data collected was analyzed thematically while
descriptive statistics were generated from quantitative data with the aid of SPSS. The
findings revealed that over 68% of the respondents had not been reached with mass
media on patients' rights. Further, audio-visual messages were commonly used in
addressing patients' rights rated at 54%. The few messages disseminated have been
centered on sporadic happening through news programs and this has contributed to the
pessimistic perception registered by focus group discussants. Further, the few messages
on patients' rights had not been implemented because they fail to meet the suitability
criteria suggested. The study recommends that health journalists should adopt in-depth
coverage of patients’ rights to increase awareness and practice investigative journalism in
monitoring the implementation of these rights across health facilities. | en_US |
