Qualitative study exploring the suitability of informed health choices resources translated into Kinyarwanda for use in primary schools: case of Remera protestant primary school in kigali city

Abstract

Introduction: Primary schools children are capable of understanding some of the key concepts needed to recognize unreliable claims and how to make informed choices about their health. The Informed Health Choices (IHC) project was designed to develop and test these learning resources for primary schools aim to teach children some of these skills. This study objectives are threefold: i) to explore the user experience of the IHC primary school resources among children and the teacher of primary five in Kinyarwanda; ii) to identify barriers and facilitators of the IHC school resources in Rwandan context for effective use; and iii) to incorporate users‟ recommendations that can inform the next reiteration of these resources in the next development cycle (Version 3). Methods: The study used qualitative methods to explore user‟s experiences (i.e. pupils aged 9- 17 (7 girls and 20 boys) and teacher (1)) and their perspectives about IHC resources in Kinyarwanda. The study used a convenient sampling strategy to select a school and purposive sampling to select children and the teacher. For each of the IHC school resources of 9 lessons, the researcher conducted non-participatory observation of the lesson with at least two observers, a user-test interview with the teacher and a focus group discussion with three children. The content analysis of users‟ experiences was conducted using modified honeycomb framework: usefulness, usability, credibility, identification, understandable and desirability. Results: In the first objective, the study found that the user experience was appropriate since their assessment indicated usefulness, identification, usability, credibility, understandability and desirability of the IHC resources. In the second objective, the barrier to the IHC material was time constraint while the facilitators included curiosity and positive attitude towards the IHC materials. In the third objective, both the pupils and the teacher suggested that the IHC material be distributed to other pupils in other schools so they can also benefit from the teachings and importance of making informed health choices. Conclusion: Methods used in this study could be of value for evaluating other educational resources in Rwanda. The researcher suggests changes that could improve the learning resources for use in Rwanda.