Influence of Mass Media Messages on Audience Perception Regarding Patient Rights Among the Residents of Mt. Elgon, Bungoma County, Kenya

https://doi.org/10.51867/ajernet.5.3.46

Authors

Keywords:

Mass Media, Messaging, Patient Rights, Perception

Abstract

Mass media plays a critical role in shaping people’s perceptions of all societal issues. This is achieved through mass media content and various channels employed in disseminating information to its audience. Based on this key impact and dominance that the media is perceived to enjoy over its audience, a mixed-method study adopting an exploratory sequential design was conducted in the Mt. Elgon sub-county of Bungoma County, Kenya. The study aimed to establish the perception created by mass media messages on patient rights among the targeted community. Many studies have focused on patients’ rights from the policy and public health perspectives and not from communication through the mass media angle. The agenda-setting theory of the mass media and the diffusion of innovation theory guided the study. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed descriptively and thematically respectively. Data was collected from adult residents of Kaptama and Chemoge sub-locations. Out of the 13104 residents of the two sub locations, a sample of 130 adult residents were randomly selected to participate in the study. Additionally, 8 key informants including 2 policy experts, and 6 health journalists drawn from leading media houses in Kenya were also involved. Data was collected with the aid of a questionnaire, interview guides (one for policy experts and another for media practitioners), and focus group discussion schedule. Trustworthiness was applied in validating qualitative data while quantitative data was validated through Cronbach Alpha Co-efficient calculations. The study established that the mass media messages on patient rights are too general focusing on sporadic happenings and not on patient rights in particular. Thus, the messages disseminated on the topic, have not been able to shift the mindset of the study respondents who registered pessimism towards the potential of mass media messages to shape favourable perceptions of patient rights. Journalists need to single out messages on patient rights from general reportage increasing their visibility to attain the desired perception from the media audience.

Dimensions

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Published

2024-08-08

How to Cite

Nkangi, F. N., Anyonje, L., & Kabaji, E. (2024). Influence of Mass Media Messages on Audience Perception Regarding Patient Rights Among the Residents of Mt. Elgon, Bungoma County, Kenya. African Journal of Empirical Research, 5(3), 526–537. https://doi.org/10.51867/ajernet.5.3.46

Issue

Vol. 5 No. 3 (2024): Jul-Sep 2024

Section

Articles
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Copyright (c) 2024 Felister Nyaera Nkangi, Lydia Anyonje, Egara Kabaji

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

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