An Effective, Low-cost Approach to Implementing HIV/AIDS Education Programs in Low Literacy Populations: An Example from Rural Haiti

The HIV/AIDS pandemic disproportionately afflicts regions of the world that have minimal access to formal schooling and low literacy rates. Health educational interventions are difficult to evaluate efficiently in these settings because standard approaches such as written questionnaires cannot easily be employed. Here, we describe a novel method of rapidly assessing health interventions among large groups that does not require the ability to read or write. We tested this evaluation tool within the context of a community-based HIV/AIDS drama education program in a low-literate region of rural Haiti. The evaluation was simple, easy to use, and confirmed substantial improvements in knowledge after the intervention. The tool also provided information that helped alter the intervention to improve educational outcomes in subsequent productions of the drama. This evaluation method can be utilized for very little cost, and may be replicated in resource-poor, non-literate settings throughout the developing world.