Utilization of printed information education and communication (iec) materials for hiv/aids prevention and control among health Care providers: a parallel mixed method

Abstract

Background: Despite the important role of printed Information Education Communication materials in bringing the desired behavior change in prevention and control of HIV/AIDS, the issue of utilization of these materials by health care providers for its prevention and control was not subjected in scientific inquiry. Objective: This study assessed the printed Information Education Communication materials utilization and associated factors for HIV/AIDS prevention and control among health care providers in health facilities of West Shewa zone of Oromia region, Ethiopia, 2022 G.C. Methods: A Parallel mixed method was conducted by combining both quantitative and qualitative researchs. The data was collected from 356 health care providers randomly selected from the health facilities in west Shewa zone of Oromia region for quantitative part and 13 purposively selected key informants were participated. Data were entered using Epidata version 3.1 and analyzed using SPSS version 26. Descriptive statistics were used to calculate frequency means and logistic regression was used to identify predictors of IEC material utilization in HIV/AIDS prevention and control. Qualitative data was transcribed, translated, coded and thematization was done by using Atlas ti.7. Finally the result was presented by triangulating the findings of quantitative and qualitative studies. Result: This study revealed that 185 (65.4%) of participants have ever used printed IEC materials for HIV/AIDS prevention and control. Sex (AOR=0.27, 95%CI=0.13-0.56, PV=0.001), Institution of graduate (AOR=4.03, 95%CI=2.02-8.05, PV<0.001), having training (AOR=2.3, 95%CI=1.10-5.11, PV=0.028), Materials availability (AOR=2.51, 95%CI=1.23-5.11, PV=0.011), knowledge (AOR=1.11,95%CI=1.01-1.24, PV=0.032), attitude (AOR=3.32, 95%CI=2.04-5.39,PV<0.001) and perceived usefulness (AOR=3.89, 95%CI=2.66-5.68, PV<0.001) are independent predictors of printed IEC materials utilization. Lack of adequate materials provision, inappropriateness of materials and poor knowledge of health care providers on materials utilization are the reasons for not using these materials. Conclusion and Recommendation: the finding of this study implies that the the utilization of printed IEC materials for HIV/AIDS prevention and control is low among health care providers. Low materials provision, lack of enough training and the attention divert from HIV/AIDs are among barriers identified by qualitative part of the study. Providing adequate materials along with training for health professionals is a key to printed IEC materials utilization.