Health Communication Capacity Collaborative Project

SBCC I-Kit to support faith-based organisation led breastfeeding interventions (The Health Communication Capacity Collaborative 2014)

July 31, 2016

The Supporting Breastfeeding Interventions for Faith-Based Organizations Implementation Kit (I-Kit) provides SBCC practitioners with straightforward guidance and interactive tools to assist in developing breastfeeding SBCC programs. While this I-Kit was designed with FBOs in mind, any type of organization seeking to improve breastfeeding practices can use it.

Click here for full kit.

Correlates of Intra-Household insecticide-treated mosquito net use in Liberia article (PLoS ONE 11(7) 2016)

July 24, 2016

A study by the Health Communication Capacity Collaborative (HC3) published in the latest version of the journal PLOS ONE, Correlates of Intra-Household ITN Use in Liberia sheds light on ways to increase net use among those with net access. The results reveal a great deal of useful information for those involved in social and behavior change communication (SBCC) malaria interventions in Liberia.

This study found that only about one-third of survey respondents had one or more insecticide treated nets in their household. Far fewer had a net for every sleeping space or one for every two people in the house. The proportion of household members sleeping under a net increased dramatically if the household owned two nets, or three or more nets. This means, first and foremost, that Liberians need more nets.
Another finding was that female caregiver ideational characteristics were a significant predictor of whether or not nets were being used. If a female caregiver perceived malaria as a severe disease, or felt she was able to recognize signs of severe malaria, members of her household were more likely to have slept under a net. Interestingly, a female caregiver’s perceived susceptibility (whether or not she thinks her family will get malaria) isn’t significantly related to net use. This has been seen in other studies. One explanation is that people sleeping under ITNs feel less likely to get malaria.
An encouraging finding was that those exposed to malaria prevention messages were twice as likely to sleep under nets.
Two counties were found to have far fewer nets than the others. This helps planners prioritize these areas in upcoming LLIN distributions.

Factors Impacting the Effectiveness of Community Health Worker Behavior Change: A Literature Review (Health Communication Capacity Collaborative 2015)

April 9, 2016

Social and behavior change communication (SBCC), which uses communication to positively influence the social dimensions of health and well-being, is an important strategy for improving health services at the provider level. As community health workers (CHWs) play an increasingly important role in providing health services, there is also an increasing focus on to how to use SBCC strategies to build CHWs’ capacity to offer quality services to the community members they serve. A key step in designing and implementing effective SBCC programs for CHWs is understanding the barriers and facilitators that effect CHWs in providing these services.

The aim of this literature review is to examine the barriers and facilitators to CHW service provision in three areas: knowledge and competency barriers in which CHWs lack the skills and knowledge to provide services, structural and contextual barriers in which systemic and environmental factors influence CHWs’ ability to provide services, and motivational barriers in which social norms and attitudes that effect CHWs willingness to provide services. In all three areas, findings revealed that CHWs face significant barriers,ranging from lack of materials and high workloads to ingrained attitudes and insufficient training. The results and recommendations in this paper can be used to anticipate and respond to potential barriers and promote facilitators to service provision through SBCC programs for CHWs.

Click here for full review.