Behaviour change to improve abortion knowledge, India

A quasi-experimental study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of a behaviour change communication intervention to improve women’s knowledge about India’s abortion law and their perceptions about abortion. The campaign was implemented in 2008–2009 in Bihar and Jharkhand. Using a fictitious young woman as the main character, the campaign provided information on the legality of abortion, the locations of the nearest public sector facilities offering safe abortion and contraceptive services, and the health consequences of unsafe abortion. The campaign used one-on-one interactions with health educators and community group meetings and street dramas performed in local villages using villagers as actors, and distributed low-literacy reference materials. Household surveys were administered at baseline in 2008 and at follow-up in 2010 to independent, randomly selected cross-sectional samples of rural married women aged 15-49, in intervention and comparison districts. Women who had been exposed to two activities had five times the odds of recalling a correct message. Those who had been exposed to all three activities had almost 18 times the odds of recalling a correctmessage. Women in the intervention sites reported greater social support for abortion from their families and showed increased perceived self-efficacy with respect to family planning and abortion between baseline and follow-up.¹