Communicating preventive messages in the anti-substance abuse program of Kapatiran-Kaunlaran Foundation Incorporated

• Main Authors: De Guzman, Raphael Lewis Barretto, Duran, Frances Nicole Eugeno, Regulano, Justin Louise Pineda
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2016
• Subjects: Social work with youth > Marketing > Philippines; Kapatiran-Kaunlaran Foundation, Incorporated (Philippines); Communication
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/8923
• Institution: De La Salle University

Situated in the context of Kapatiran-Kaunlaran Foundation Incorporated's (KKFI) Anti-Substance Abuse Program (ASAP), this study argues that preventive messages are critical in facilitating comprehension of substance abuse among out of school youth (OSY) in Tondo, Manila. KKFI is a non-profit, non-government (NGO), social development organization located in Sampaloc, Manila that provides educational opportunities for people of all ages in marginalized communities in Metro Manila. Its aim is to equip individuals with skills and knowledge for holistic human development. In order to attain holistic development, the organization provides various progams which help in the moral, emotional, physical, and mental well-being of those in the marginalized communities. One of these programs is the ASAP which provides lectures to 16-18 year old OSY regarding the negative effects of substance abuse. The organizational communication problem in KKFI is that its ASAP is ineffectively communicated to the target audience (OSY ages 16-18). The organization fails to meet their objective of providing preventive messages in order to help the target audience understand the negative effects of using alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATOD). Informed by the extended parallel model and culture-centered approach, this study aims to provide better educational materials (games, hand-outs, and posters) which highlight preventive messages through engaging and visually appealing tools that may help increase comprehension among OSY. Using mixed method design, results suggested that the interventions were partly effective in inreasing comprehension of OSY. Furthermore the results imply that comprehension can be garnered through the use of preventive messages when its context is on substance abuse and its target audience is OSY. The study also showed how the influence of the target audience in the creation and development of the preventive messages formed a variation of preventive messages specific to them. Implications to theory, programs, and policy are further elaborated.