The Meaning People Make of HIV Posters: a Case Study on Health Improvement at Jirapa District in the Upper West Region of Ghana

Abstract

Posters are visual communication methods used to convey messages to the public as one of health promotion strategies to communicate to the general public on health-related issues on the awareness especially of HIV/AIDS. However, the extent to which the intended communication gets to the community on is unknown. The question is what impact does HIV posters have on the people? Are posters communicating to the people as intended? The objective of this study therefore is to assess the meaning people make on HIV posters in the Jirapa district of the Upper West region of Ghana. A cross-sectional survey using questionnaires and interviews was adopted and a mixed method [qualitative and quantitative] was used. The SPSS [version 16] programme  was used to generate results which were presented in pie-charts, bar-charts, frequency, tables and graphs and were discussed. It came to light that more females responded to the questionnaire. It was clear that there was the need to choose an appropriate poster depending on the situation to advertise. Furthermore, posters should be posted at vantage points; they  should be culturally acceptable and in the local dialect.

Keywords: HIV Posters, Jirapa, meaning, , communication