Health Information Gaps in Zambia – Evidence from the AudienceScapes National Survey

By Dr. Yingying Zhou, InterMedia

Based on the AudienceScapes nationally representative survey of Zambia, conducted in April and May 2010

The report focuses on how people of different social groups in Zambia gather, share and assess information on key health issues. It showcases how the AudienceScapes survey data can be used by the development community to better target communications and information-sharing efforts.

Specifically, the report helps development organizations to identify gaps in access to health information for Zambian adults and efficient conduits to share such information with key demographic groups.

There is inequitable access to health services in Zambia - with significant differences between rural and urban dwellers and among socioeconomic groups - which can be correlated to variations in self-assessed health status. As in most developing countries, the rural residents or those of lower socioeconomic status are disadvantaged in terms of health services and status, and they should be given special attention in health communication strategies.

Our survey data suggest that people who considered themselves to be in better health status also tended to pay more attention to health-related news or to discuss health issues with others more often. People who said that they have received information about HIV/AIDS, malaria, or family planning within the last month were more likely to be in better health. This suggests a possible link between access to health information and health outcome.  

Read Full Report (pdf)

Report Summary- A Detailed Overview of the Main Findings

Report  Methodology

Read Chapters

Chapter 1 The General Health Landscape: an overview of self-reported health status and level of access to health services, and variations by socioeconomic groups;

Chapter 2 Health Information Gathering and Sharing: general access to and use of health information, as seen through the prism of the rural-urban divide and the gender gap in Zambia;

Chapter 3 Accessing Information About HIV/AIDS, with a focus on young women;

Chapter 4 Communicating Health Information About Malaria, exploring the rural-urban divide and the gender gap;

Chapter 5 Information Gathering On Family Planning And Maternal & Child Health (FP-MCH), with a focus on reproductive-age women;

Chapter 6:  A Profile Of Health “Opinion Leaders” and their roles in health information

This report draws from a nationally representative survey of Zambian individuals, (n=2,000), conducted in spring 2010. The survey included modules on access to information sources generally as well as access to information about health-related issues, plus questions about trust in various information sources and use of word-of-mouth networks to stay informed about health issues. The survey was based on face-to-face interviews and covered all regions of the country.

For more information contact

Dr. Yingying Zhou
Email: zhouy@intermedia.org
Phone: 202-434-9309

Peter Goldstein
Email: goldsteinp@intermedia.org
Phone: 202.434.9584


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