TEBlog

A completely different type of project from the seminar - a mini-research project on HIV/AIDS campaigns on campus...by Lauren Rosenberg. At the end of a semester’s worth of a ‘Health Communication’ seminar I considered my position as a UCT student and the type of ‘Health Communication’ that I had experienced during my time at this university. Nearly all of the campaigns that I have seen and heard are to do with HIV/AIDS. The only exception to this is a small sign in the ladies bathroom that tells me to wash my hands using the soap provided, of which there is hardly ever some to use. Irony aside it did make me think about HIV/AIDS communication campaigns that are run on campus and whether or not they achieve what they set out to do. Throughout my Health Communication seminar inferences were made that the issues around HIV/AIDS that we discussed were perhaps not as relevant to us as they were to people who were either A) not at university or B) not as ‘privileged’ as we were in terms of our education, finances and home background. In our penultimate class a quick poll was taken where students had to write down on small bits of paper whether or not they had ever had unsafe sex before. The results came in on carefully folded bits of paper with the following data: out of a class of 14 ‘privileged’ university students, 11 had had unsafe sex before. Thinking back to the empty soap dispenser in the bathroom I figured that it was clear that people were reading the sign but not using the soap. This reflective essay will look at data collected from mini informal interviews conducted with UCT students who were chosen randomly from a convenience sample. It will also consider the aims and projects of HAICU (UCT’s HIV/AIDS co-ordination unit) and see whether the two match up in terms of expectations and delivery. (More)