Educating Against HIV/AIDS By A Simulation Game In China And Nigeria

Human Immunodeficiency Virus(HIV)and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS)are as much about social phenomena as they are about biological and medical concerns.The social responses of fear,denial,stigma and discrimination have been manifesting among people since scientists identified HIV and AIDS.Unfortunately, medicine for the cure of the disease and drugs for HIV prevention has remained elusive. Also,cases of new infection of the disease are on the increase.A closer look at the situation in China and Nigeria depict gloomy picture among the young people in both countries especially where low level of knowledge and low level of perception about HIV/AIDS was common.In addition to this,risk behaviour of not using any protective barrier was also found to be common among them.Unfortunaltely,the teaching about HIV/AIDS in schools within these countries are also be-devil by catalog of problems. Bearing this in mind,one is then stimulated to ponder on the following questions:how can progress be made in overcoming stigma and discrimination? How can the behaviours of young people be changed about HIV/AIDS? How can safer practices be encouraged among young people to reduce HIV infection? These are the concerns which prompted exploration of which pedagogical approach can be used to address these issues in an atmosphere devoid of stress and fear.This is very important as just the mere mentioning of the disease most of the time caused jitters in my listeners.Simulation game,which is applied pedagogy,is focused upon among other possible pedagogical approaches,as the main tool to be used in an attempt to address these concerns because of its numerous advantages.In order to do this,a simulation game was developed based on the problems identified and its evaluation was carried out on whether participation in the game by university students would help in addressing the issues raised.Theories that the research is based on are Piaget's social interaction in developmental change,Mead's peer interaction for the development of self esteem,Social Cognitive theory,self empowerment and behaviour change approach.Two group of students were used were used for this study,ie the experimental and control groups with the aim of establishing whether using the game by one group will result into any difference in them above the other.In addition to this,the research tried to establish what level of difference/application would occur among the experimental group using country and gender as another focal point.The methodological approach adopted for this research is the use of quantitative (Likert scale)and qualitative questionnaires as instruments for collecting data.Three stages of data collection were done at the pre-game,post-game and after three months of playing the game.This involved both the experimental and the control groups.The Statistical Package for Social Scientists(SPSS)was used in analyzing the quantitative data collected.The qualitative data on the other hand were sorted out under different questions and tabulated with the most frequent responses used for analysis.A total number of 720 students(360 males and 360 females)were involved in this research from the two countries with equal representation.Four universities were used(2 from each country)with Education as the main course of study of the participants though with different teaching subjects across disciplines like languages,Arts and Social Sciences.Interestingly,the participants cut across different ethnic groups within some provinces/states from the two countries.Their marital status showed most of them (China 95%,Nigeria 90%)were single while the average age of the participants from China and Nigeria is 21 years.While the majority of the participants from China do not practice any religion(95%),those from Nigeria practice cither Christianity((?)5%)o(?) Islam(35%).The base line data collected shows that the mass media rather than teachers and parents are the major means of knowing about HIV/AIDS both in China and Nigeria.In China for example,TV and newspapers accounted for 50 percent while parent accounted for(10%),friends(25%),teachers(20%)and local government campaign(5%).For Nigeria,the participants'baseline data showed the following modes of knowing:mass media(45%),parents(10%),friends(20%),teachers(15%),local government campaign (5%)and religious leaders(5%).In relation to the above,most of the participants from China were taught about HIV/AIDS outside the school(55%)while for Nigeria those taught within and outside the school are the same(50%).This research finding shows that 58.9 percent(106)male and 52.8 percent(95) female participants from China have had sexual intercourse at least once in their life.For participants from Nigeria,the result shows that 60 percent(108)male and 59.4 percent (107)female have had sexual intercourse at least once in their life.Sexual intercourse without using any barrier(condom)is found to be more among the participants that were sexually active both in China and Nigeria.Other practices like oral and anal sex as well as sharing injecting needles are not common among the participants from the two countries.Also,more than half of the participants did not know someone/some people with HIV/AIDS in both countries.However,more participants from Nigeria than China know some one/some people with HIV/AIDS.At the pre-game stage,the knowledge level of the participants on HIV/AIDS is about 50 percent for both experimental and control groups in China and Nigeria.The pre-game result on perception on HIV/AIDS among the participants is below 45 percent for the experimental and control groups in both countries.The result further showed a minimal difference on knowledge and perception about HIV/AIDS among the experimental and control groups at the pre-game stage.The post-game test shows a very high increase in level of knowledge on HIV/AIDS among the experimental group more so than in the control group.In China,the result shows 84.7 percent for the male and 84.6 percent for the female participants.In Nigeria, male has 86.3 percent while female has 85.9 percent.However,the result for the control group in China with high knowledge on HIV/AIDS is 49.6 percent while that of Nigeria is 47.1 percent.Perception level increased at the post-game stage among the experimental group. China:84.7 percent for male,88.9 percent high level for female participants.Nigeria, 86.3 percent high level for male participants,92.4 percent for female participants.The result for the Chinese control group at the post game stage shows 39.5 of the participants with high level.For Nigeria,44.5 percent high level perception was achieved by the control group.There is a wide difference between the experimental and control groups at the post game stage in favour of the former in the areas of knowledge and perception on HIV/AIDS.Though there is wide percentage increase on knowledge and perception about HIV/AIDS at the post-game stage among the experimental groups,however.(?) comparison between participants from China and Nigeria shows a negligible difference. The situation is the same in the comparison using gender.The post-game result of the experimental group showed reduction in risky behaviours like unprotected sex,unfaithfulness to girl/boy friends and spouses,sharing of needles etc.The result of this study showed the game re-enforcing good practices among some of the participants from the experimental group like maintaining virginity, remaining faithful and not involving in other risky behaviours that could lead to the transmission of HIV.The Life Game reduced stigmatization among some experimental group participants too.A 3 month follow up showed some of them already relating well with PLWHA.The Life Game was found to have also helped to improve social relationships among the participants.New concepts related to HIV/AIDS were acquired by the participants from the experimental group generally while in specific terms it afforded participants from China the opportunity to practice their oral English.The experimental group found the game to be stimulating,interesting and educative as they learned about HIV/AIDS devoid of fear.The three month follow-up qualitative questionnaire in addition to other earlier issues discussed also sought to know if there is anything else the participants will still like to say about their experiences of participating in the research.Some selected responses made by the experimental groups are:China: It is a wonderful experience for me to discuss and learn easily about HIV/AIDS for the first time through The Life Game;an interesting game that has helped me to be more responsible to myself and others;I am very happy about it and I want to play the game again;this experience makes me to value my life more,Thanks!;and it is a fantastic journey with memorable feelings to participate in this research,Please send the game to us.Some selected reactions from Nigeria are:the discussions I had during the game with members of my group encouraged me to visit someone I know that is HIV positive;the wonderful game I played makes me now to be faithful to my wife and love her more;participating in this research provided me the opportunity to interact freely for the first time with members of my class especially the boys;after playing the game,I had a deep reflection on my life and have changed for better by giving my studies the topmost priority over any relationship;I will just use this opportunity to thank you very much for inventing this game and providing me the chance to make my life better;and how wonderful and exciting it is to learn more meaningfully about HIV/AIDS through this interesting game,Thanks.