Benin is one of the countries in West Africa that have a big problem of HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. This article has attempted to mainly put focus on how, despite the knowledge that people have regarding the disease, they are still very reluctant to use preventive measures, such as the use of condoms during sexual intercourse. In fact, this arises from the failure of the government to provide adequate anti-retroviral medicine to the people.
The article that comes out as a research document outlays some very important information regarding the people’s knowledge about the disease and their attitude towards protecting themselves from HIV and AIDS by using condoms. The same document has extensively used the ecological method, thus making it more elaborate and easy to understand the structure (Albert & Sedlacck, 1989).
This particular document has adopted the macro system level of ecological method. This involves studying how people’s culture has shaped their life that is how they use their ideology and emotions to make decisions. In this particular setting of the rural areas in Benin, we realize that the reason why HIV/AIDS is persistent is because of cultural behavior like polygamy and the idea that it does not exist.
We cannot also ignore how deep the article looks into the theory of change and in particular a type of theory of change that sets to use short term and long term solutions towards changing the attitude of people to starting using condoms as an important tool to curb the rampant spread of HIVAIDS in Benin. This aspect of change has made people realize the need to abandon some of their habits in life, especially the unprotected sex, which often leads to sexually transmitted infections. This theory can be expressed in practical application as shown in the following discussion.
The main aim of this theory is to help the people in Benin so that they can tackle the spread of HIV in the society. The short term solutions in the theory of change require more information to be passed to the people, which will help in reducing the ignorance of one’s own safety. This is termed as ignorance because despite people know the obvious effects of the disease, they do very little to protect themselves from it.
It is also important to transmit the information how the virus is spread to the people because the article indicates that they know very little about the disease, especially those who can be infected. The men form a bigger percentage of the inhabitants of rural Benin thus if they are not well informed about this disease, it can turn into a disaster. If this theory is used, then it will practically help reduce the spread of the disease if more people are informed of its dangers.
This theory will be applicable incase it is used to try to bring the condom outreach program to the people at the community level since then the researches will be able to get direct response from the people as to why they choose not to use condoms during sexual intercourse, thus a relevant authority does its best to advice them appropriately. From the article, it is clear that the theory of change is applicable since not all the people and hindrances are homogeneous and can be solved instantly. Some of the problems may take a lot of time to solve and by that require long term solutions. Such are the problems of economic hardships and those of changing the people’s attitude to start using condoms among others (Hounton, Carabin, & Henderson, 2005).
Indeed, there are the obvious strengths and weaknesses of targeting a potential intervention at this level of the ecological model. The following discussions shed more light on this thought. The main strength of targeting a potential intervention at this level is that one is able to reach the individual as the smallest unit of research. It involves one-on-one interaction with people at the ground, and thus one is able to get quick and immediate response. It also gives room for clarification incase one point was not understood.
It is also justified to argue the fact that only people of the appropriate age are to be interviewed in order one will be able to get a relevant information since the people who are asked questions do understand the subject matter. Incase one decides to randomly interview people without age limits the results may not be relevant. The next critical issue is that the topics that relate to sex are not discussed with children who are under age as in most societies, it is considered unethical. Such are some of the barriers that limit a free transmission of knowledge about HIV/AIDS among the children. It is advisable to let this group of people have knowledge and information on the same subject.
One can also argue that this method has some strengths which if well structured, give the researcher an opportunity to choose the ratio of gender to interview. This means one can be able to pick a 5050 gender ratio that will intern help the researcher to enjoy efficient results and do ahead to give an elaborate analysis of the same using such data one can give a graphical representation of hisher work using such information on the collected facts.
However, this method has some weaknesses. Such weaknesses as one’s argument on the grounds of ethics to justify why a certain age group is not interviewed can be termed as simplistic. This is because one cannot assume that some age group is not engaged in certain acts. For example, though being actively engage in sex in some societies, the children between the ages of 12-16 are not taken into account by the researches, but they may be at risk of being affected by such diseases like HIVAID and other sexually transmitted diseases. Therefore, leaving them out may mean a big blow in the war to combat HIVAIDS
Another weakness of this method reveals when the researcher opts to pick a gender ratio that is unbalanced. For example, picking more men than women or the other way round will mean that comparison between the two genders may not be accurate. This weakness may be very bad incase the research requires a qualitative analysis of the two gender, thereby making it very difficult to interpret the results.
Too much emphasis on a particular target or society is also a weakness. Serious diseases that do spread easily should not be emphasized in Benin alone. It should target at the entire human race in order to get rid of the disease. In short, this infection is a global problem, that is why if some one plans to curb its spread, it should be done in a global scale. Therefore, this method should not only focus on a small area, but a bigger and broader one if it wants to achieve its course.
The ecological model has various levels. These levels, which are highlighted below, do make it ideal.
Micro systems
This particular level is concerned with interpersonal or individual features and aspects of group that build the identity of the society. They include roles played by persons such as father, sister, mother, child, or brother and the common characteristics found in them. These interpersonal attributes show how a particular individual looks at himher self. In fact, these factors and qualities, which are regarded as examples of ethnicity and gender, are taught in the group membership (Glanz, Rimmer & Lewis, 2002). At this level, other factors also act as components of the particular individual, so that they appear as cognitive and psychological factors. These factors are not limited to beliefs and include personality and knowledge among others. It is true that in the micro system of an individual, a person is not only shaped to who he or she is by other individuals he or she encounters with, but also the environment. This aspect is mostly witnessed in child development. This differs from the assumption that as a child, an individual is shaped only by societal environment because he/she is also influenced by interaction with other individuals. In a child’s behavior, there are simultaneous and multiple aspects that shape their learning and behavior. These include school, culture, parental, support, teacher, and many other. Some examples that are classified as micro-systems outside one self include social clubs family and friends (Bryant & Henderson, 2001).
Meso-systems
Can be termed as institutions or those organizational aspects that structure or shape the environment within which we see interpersonal or individual relations occurring. These factors can include acceptable business policies, rules, etiquette, and these aspects do differ from one institution to another. The institutional factor and the way it influences an individual are also very important examples that are used in schools, churches, sports team and companies. The norm forming aspects of an organization or group is what we refer to as a meso-system. People consider an individual an active member of this institution. The extent of influence of the organization is determined by the medium of communication in this level (Roye & Seals, 2001).
Exo-system
Under this level, we have the community as the influencing factor. It includes standards and norms that are well established in social networks. There is also a likelihood of many interpersonal and organizational factors that compose the given society. In comparison to the community, meso is regarded to be smaller. However, the nation or culture is bigger than the community itself. Exo-system can, therefore, be used to refer to a setting that affects an individual in any way as it is a key to the fact that a person plays an active role there (Sowell, 2002).
Another model that can be used is the exo-system which is a good choice to be applied as one tries to combat HIV/AIDS in Benin. Here, one can pick a strategy of social networking as a way to bring about those already infected with the disease and make them have a sense of belonging. Explain them the benefits of using condoms when having sex with their loved ones, and this will help reduce the spread of the disease as the people will try to protect their loved ones. This method will also include use of norms and standards will help tackle the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Another strength of this method is that one will be able to reach a larger group of people through networking within a short period, and the education they receive is effective as there is one on one communication that favor to form a clarity needed.
The weakness of using this method is that many people especially those who do not want to be identified as patients or HIV/AIDS may refuse to join the social network. It is also true that no one can be forced to join the network, therefore, some may deliberately sabotage the whole process. Therefore, it is very important to ensure that proper methods and activities are used to make this exercise a success (Mahoney, Thombs & Olinda, 2005).
The most effective method of the two levels of ecological model is the macro-system level because of its merits and efficiency. A health initiative should take advantage of the lessons learnt at different levels of ecology to ensure a perfect result. One way is to borrow the strength of the other methods and harmonize them with the strength of the strategy he/she has opted for (Brookmeyer, 1994). This will help counter the possible weaknesses affecting the research.
Both the levels of ecological methods are useful tools in health initiatives. What is important is that they are used to supplement each other incase one is to come up with an elaborate piece of research that will remain relevant forever.
References
Albert, R. M., & Sedlacck, W. E. (1989). Freshman Sexual Attitudes and Behaviours over 15-Year Period. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Brookmeyer, R. (1994). Gail MH: AIDS. Epidemiology, a Quantitative Approach. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Bryant, J. C. & Henderson, J.N. (2001). Social and Behavioral Foundations of Public Health. CA, USA: Sage Publications.
Glanz, K., Rimmer, B. K. & Lewis, F. M. (2002). Health Behavior and Health Education, Theory Research and Practice. NJ, USA: John Wiley and Sons.
Hounton, H.S., Carabin, H. & Henderson, N. J. (2005).Towards Understanding The Barriers To Condom Use In Rural Benin Using The Health Belief Model: A Cross Sectional Survey. Web.
Mahoney, C. A., Thombs, D. L., & Olinda, J. F. (2005). Health Belief and Self-Sufficiency Models: Their Utility in Explaining College Student Condom Use. CA, USA: Guilford Press.
Roye, C. F. & Seals, B. A. (2001). Qualitative Assessment of Condom Use Decisions by Female Adolescents Who Use Hormonal Contraceptions. NJ, USA: John Wiley and Sons.
Sowell, R. L. (2002). Factors Influencing Intent to Get Pregnant in HIV-Infected Women Living in the Southern USA. CA, USA: Guilford Press.