Title: Dialogue tool promotes open, honest discussion.

POPLINE Document Number: 168850

Author(s):

Best K

Source citation:

Network, 2002;21(4):22.

Abstract:

Family Health International (FHI) has developed and is evaluating a tool to help men and women communicate openly with each other about sex and other issues affecting their sexual health. The "Dialogue" is a communication tool designed to facilitate group discussions, first presented in 1996 by the FHI AIDS Control Project Women's Initiative at a satellite meeting of the Eleventh International Conference on AIDS. In 1997, the Indian Institute of Health Management Research tested Dialogue among some 400 married men and women from one rural and one urban area of Jaipur district, India. Researchers trained to guide and record the Dialogue process conducted 60 focus group discussions, 12 of which involved men and women talking to each other. Main discussion points included: the role and responsibilities of men in the family, gender equity, virtues of a good man and a good woman, knowledge of symptoms, causes and prevention of sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS, use of condoms, promiscuous sexual behavior of men, and safer sexual practices. Overall, results showed that Dialogue helped to create an enabling environment for a free and open discussion of sex and related issues, and its more important achievement was as much as a 100% increase in the use of condoms.

Keywords:

India
Summary Report
Teaching Materials
Partner Communication
Communication Strategy
Sexuality
Reproductive Health
Condom Use
Asia, Southern
Asia
Developing Countries
Interpersonal Relations
Behavior
Communication
Personality
Psychological Factors
Health
Risk Reduction Behavior