Background: Although it is a preventable disease, malaria continues to present one of the major global health challenges. The disease is especially deadly to children under the age of 5 years. This is partly due to the fact that they have yet to build up an immune system to help protect them against malaria. As a prevention strategy, music is one way of communicating knowledge to young children and could therefore potentially be used to change children's behaviour in order to avoid getting sick from malaria. This exploratory study aimed to compare intervention strategies designed to educate and improve knowledge growth about malaria and its prevention in Grade 3 learners in a high-risk malaria region in Vhembe District, Limpopo Province, South Africa.

Methods: Various intervention strategies were employed and evaluated to determine the most effective intervention method. The study was split into two Phases. Phase 1 used a culturally and age-appropriate song as an intervention, along with a drama piece, a song and drama piece combination, and a control group. The most effective intervention strategy determined during Phase 1 was then subjected to Phase 2, against a control group to validate its efficacy. Questionnaires were used during pre-intervention and post-intervention interviews to evaluate the knowledge growth, if any, of the learners of selected primary schools in two different areas in Vhembe District. Pre-intervention interviews were followed by a specific intervention, based on the respective study groups. After 6 weeks, the post-intervention interviews were done to determine how much learners managed to learn and retain from the intervention received.

Results: The study found that the group that had only the song as intervention was the most effective learning intervention method in both Phases 1 and 2. Both phases showed that there was statistical significance in almost all of the nine questions asked on the questionnaires.

Conclusions: The study concluded that a culturally and age-appropriate song can play a significant role in developing behavioural changes and spreading awareness against disease in a high-risk malaria region.

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Fig. 1

Fig. 1

Map of the Vhembe District...

Fig. 1

Map of the Vhembe District in Limpopo, South Africa

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Fig. 2

Flow diagram model summarizing Phases...

Fig. 2

Flow diagram model summarizing Phases 1 and 2 of the research study

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Fig. 3

Breakdown of intervention methods for...

Fig. 3

Breakdown of intervention methods for the 12 primary schools enrolled during Phase 1...

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Fig. 4

Breakdown of intervention methods for...

Fig. 4

Breakdown of intervention methods for the eight primary schools enrolled during Phase 2...

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Fig. 5

Correct answers shown as mean...

Fig. 5

Correct answers shown as mean percentage of all questions from the questionnaire percentages...

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Fig. 6

Correct answers shown as the...

Fig. 6

Correct answers shown as the mean of all questions from the questionnaire percentages...

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Fig. 7

Section A, B and C...

Fig. 7

Section A, B and C Flow chart of the entire study including the...

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