Mobile Cinema Vans and HIV/AIDS Prevention: An Action Research Study with Pastoralist Youth in Karamoja, Uganda

{ "background": "Pastoralist youth in the Karamoja Region face significant barriers to accessing conventional HIV/AIDS prevention education due to mobility, remoteness, and low literacy. Mobile cinema vans have been posited as a potential tool for reaching such marginalised communities, but their efficacy in this specific context is under-researched.", "purpose and objectives": "This action research study aimed to assess the efficacy of mobile cinema vans in disseminating HIV/AIDS prevention messages to pastoralist youth and to collaboratively develop improved outreach strategies with the community.", "methodology": "Employing a cyclical action research design, the study involved three iterative phases of planning, action, observation, and reflection. Data were collected through structured observations of cinema van screenings, focus group discussions with youth participants, and semi-structured interviews with community elders and health workers. Thematic analysis was used to interpret qualitative data.", "findings": "Mobile cinema screenings significantly increased youth attendance at community health talks, with post-screening discussion groups attracting over 80% of the viewing audience. A key emergent theme was the importance of integrating locally resonant narratives and imagery; messages framed within familiar pastoralist contexts led to enhanced participant engagement and recall.", "conclusion": "Mobile cinema vans are a highly effective medium for delivering health promotion to nomadic pastoralist youth, serving as a catalyst for community dialogue. Their success is contingent upon the co-creation of culturally contextualised content.", "recommendations": "HIV/AIDS prevention programmes for pastoralist communities should integrate mobile cinema as a core outreach strategy. Programme design must involve participatory content development with target youth and community leaders to ensure cultural relevance. Sustainable funding models for maintaining mobile van operations are required.", "key words": "Action research, HIV/AIDS prevention, pastoralist youth, mobile cinema, health communication, Uganda, community engagement", "contribution statement": "This study provides novel empirical evidence on the operational mechanisms and community co-design processes that underpin the successful use of mobile cinema for health promotion with highly mobile populations in East Africa