Health communication through folk media: a study based on Yakshagana – A South Indian dance drama on Covid-19

Health communication has crucial role to play when the globe is reeling under the crisis of Covid-19, the novel coronavirus. The World Health Organization has declared it to as a pandemic. Educating people to follow precautionary measures has been considered the only way to fight the epidemic. Traditional folk media, such as theatre, dance, puppetry, song, and storytelling have been used successfully throughout the developing world to reach the urban and rural mass with health messages. Yakshagana, a vibrant south Indian folk drama, is being used for creating awareness about literacy, environment protection, family planning, health and sanitation, HIV/AIDS prevention, and some social evils. This paper is based on the case study of a Yakshagana performance intended to educate people about Covid-19. The study, applying persuasion and attitude change theories and the reinforcement theory, has used a thematic analysis and an online survey to collect primary data. The survey data has been analyzed using multiple regression model, while a z-test has been performed for hypothesis testing. The study reveals that speech, music and body language are the significant elements in Yakshagana communicating health message. It also indicates that there is no significant difference in the average effectiveness of Yakshagana on the ‘familiar’ and ‘non-familiar’ groups.