Health – C4D Network

Using social norms theory for health promotion in low-income countries (Health Promotion International Paper, 2018)

August 9, 2018 By C4D Network

In the last few years, scholars and practitioners working in low- and mid-income countries (LMIC) have increasingly been trying to harness the influence of social norms to improve people’s health globally. However, the literature informing social norm interventions in LMIC lacks a framework to understand how norms interact with other factors that sustain harmful practices and behaviours. This gap has led to short-sighted interventions that target social norms exclusively without a wider awareness of how other institutional, material, individual and social factors affect the harmful practice. Emphasizing norms to the exclusion of other factors might ultimately discredit norms-based strategies, not because they are flawed but because they alone are not sufficient to shift behaviour. In this paper, the authors share a framework (already adopted by some practitioners) that locates norm-based strategies within the wider array of factors that must be considered when designing prevention programmes in LMIC.

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Improving maternal and child health through media in South Sudan: final evaluation (BBC Media Action, 2017)

July 7, 2018 By C4D Network

Following decades of civil war, South Sudan still lacks a functioning healthcare system and has some of the worst maternal and child health indicators in the world. To help address this, between 2012 and 2017 BBC Media Action produced and broadcast a range of national radio programmes seeking to influence knowledge, attitudes, discussion and the social norms most likely to drive improvements in the RMNCH-related behaviours of women and their families. It also worked to strengthen the capacity of local radio stations to produce similar high-quality, audience-driven health programming.

This report presents a synthesis of all research and analysis completed under this project. In brief, it finds that the challenging country context (e.g. the limited availability of quality healthcare nationally and the ongoing humanitarian crisis) limited the extent to which the project was able to contribute to improved health outcomes. Despite this, audiences were generally optimistic about the shows’ influence and value, and reported gaining knowledge and making some behavioural changes as a result of tuning in.

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Toolkit for Understanding and Challenging Leprosy-Related Stigma for Civil Society Organisations in India (Leprosy Mission, 2017)

June 26, 2018 By C4D Network

This toolkit is a guide for members of civil society organisations (CSOs) in India and aims to build the capacity of CSOs in promoting inclusion of people affected by leprosy and other disabilities and encourage dialogue with communities around leprosy-related stigma and discrimination.

The toolkit was piloted with field workers from Andhra Pradesh and field workers/CSO members in Uttar Pradesh.

The overall aim of the toolkit is to bring about positive changes in attitude and practices in relation to inclusion and stigma.

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How Can Evidence Bolster Citizen Action? Learning and Adapting for Accountable Public Health in Guatemala ( Accountability Research Center, Accountability Note 2. 2018)

May 31, 2018 By C4D Network

Most theories of change in the field of transparency and accountability assume that scientifically rigorous evidence increases the possibility of influencing officials and decision-makers. Generating this evidence has been the work of academic experts. Over the last decade, the Centro de Estudios para la Equidad y la Gobernanza de los Sistemas de Salud (the Center for the Study of Equity and Governance in Health Systems, or CEGSS) has considered the question of how to use evidence to influence authorities and promote participation by users of public services in rural indigenous municipalities of Guatemala.

The author’s initial approach relied on producing rigorous evidence through the surveying of health care facilities using random samples. However, when presented to authorities, this type of evidence did not have any influence on them. In the follow-up phases, the author gradually evolved the approach to employ other methods to collect evidence (such as ethnography and audiovisuals) that are easier to grasp by the non-expert public and the users of public services. The involvement of users of services in evidence collection was accompanied by civic action strategies to engage with authorities in the resolution of problems. Throughout a decade of work, it was learned that methods for gathering evidence that draw in participation from the wider community, that help communities to tell their stories, and that facilitate collective action among service users tend to be the most powerful to influence responsiveness from authorities at local and regional levels of government.

In addition, using participatory approaches to generating and interpreting evidence fosters pedagogical processes of civic action that empower service users by activating their roles as citizens and voters. This process has been used to open space for negotiating the allocation of public resources with authorities at different governance levels.

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