Integrated Health Social and Behavior Change Programming: Tools and Resources from Breakthrough ACTION-Nigeria

Breakthrough ACTION-Nigeria implemented an integrated health social and behavior change (SBC) strategy in four states (Bauchi, Kebbi, Sokoto, Ebonyi) and the Federal Capital Territory. This work promoted positive shifts for 17 health behaviors. Breakthrough ACTION-Nigeria implemented a coordinated package of continuous community, media, and digital activities. Coordinating and reinforcing these maximized the reach and intensity of audience engagement. Each activity focused on the same behaviors and the same core messages and approaches and was informed by the results from ongoing formative research.

Community SBC and Referrals for Health Services
Working with community health volunteers, Breakthrough ACTION-Nigeria implemented community SBC interventions and made referrals to health services. Community SBC activities included community health dialogues with referrals, compound meetings, and house-to-house visits.

Community Capacity Strengthening
Through an innovative adaptation of the Community Action Cycle, Breakthrough ACTION-Nigeria worked hand-in-hand with Primary Health Care Development Agency staff and other key stakeholders at the state and local government levels to empower Ward Development Committees to plan, finance, and implement their own health initiatives within their communities.

Women’s Empowerment Groups
Breakthrough ACTION-Nigeria used human-centered design to create Women’s Empowerment Groups. These were safe spaces outside the home, where groups of women could support each other, become economically empowered, and learn about reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health, nutrition, and malaria.

Social and Behavior Change Advocacy Core Groups
Breakthrough ACTION-Nigeria facilitated SBC Advocacy Core Groups that enabled a systematic interaction and engagement of religious and traditional leaders with other opinion leaders in the health and development sectors, including government officials, community service organization representatives, women’s groups, media personnel, and other community opinion leaders. The groups were developed to influence social and gender norms.

Mass Media, Mobile Phones, and Digital
Breakthrough ACTION-Nigeria implemented a wide range of transmedia interventions on radio, television, mobile phone, and social media that were co-created with the government, implementing partners, community members, and other key stakeholders. The co-creation process placed users and communities at the center of designing messages and ensured ownership of the work.

Provider Behavior Change
Breakthrough ACTION-Nigeria worked closely with the federal and state governments to transform professional attitudes, norms, and standards in the areas of respectful maternity care, malaria in pregnancy, and fever case management.

Public Sector Capacity Strengthening
The project’s public sector capacity-strengthening activities were aligned in support of government priorities and strategies across national, state, and local government areas and wards. This work strengthened public sector systems for oversight and coordination of SBC at the national and sub-national levels.

Source: Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs

Date of Publication: August 13, 2024

Stopping Dog Bites Helps Stop Rabies

In Sierra Leone, rabies is among the most highly prioritized zoonotic diseases responsible for hundreds of deaths per year. As access to vaccines and therapeutics remains a challenge, and as the majority of rabies cases are caused by dog bites, Breakthrough ACTION developed a social and behavior change campaign “Stopping Dog Bites Helps Stop Rabies”. The dog bites and rabies campaign was developed in close collaboration with the One Health Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) technical working group (TWG) and featured a campaign song, two radio spots, a job aid for providers, a reminder card to be used by for community engagement by community health workers and community animal health workers, and a poster for community members.

Since 2019, Breakthrough ACTION has conducted three rounds of dog bites and rabies campaigns in Kenema, Western Area Urban, and Moyamba and Western Area Rural, where the campaign reached 109,000 individuals, 350,456 individuals, and 105,265 individuals, respectively. The dog bites and rabies campaign trained 914 community mobilizers to conduct house-to-house visits and outreach to schools, colleges, healthcare facilities, markets, and parks. In addition to reaching community members with messages about key prevention behaviors related to dog bites, the campaign also prompted multiple communities to take action by establishing bylaws to decrease exposure to dog bites and rabies (i.e., bylaws around responsible dog ownership).

Resources:

Source: Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs

Date of Publication: November 21, 2023

SEMAINE NATIONALE DE LUTTE CONTRE LA RESISTANCE AUX ANTIMICROBIENS

Ces ressources sont issues de la Semaine nationale de la résistance aux antimicrobiens qui s’est tenue en Côte d’Ivoire du 18 au 24 novembre 2019.

Date of Publication: September 6, 2023

“Building Trust and Empathy Around COVID-19” training curriculum

Breakthrough ACTION supports the Government of Nigeria (GON) to create an enabling environment for preparedness, response, and recovery from emerging pandemic threats and infectious disease outbreaks. Working with and through healthcare workers (HCWs) during the COVID-19 response efforts has been key to this support. Research shows:

  • HCWs are trusted messengers for social and behavior change (SBC) interventions. Results from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Sydani Vaccine Hesitancy Study in Nigeria showed that 83% of participants said they would seek advice from an HCW in the decision to get vaccinated for COVID-19.
  • HCWs were largely more likely to be vaccinated than the general population for COVID-19. However, many remained vaccine-hesitant. This was largely due to a lack of confidence in the vaccines, followed by a lack of trust in government/public figures, fear of adverse effects, constraints to access, and a low perception of the risk of disease.
  • HCWs reported that they lacked sufficient information on COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines and required more information on COVID-19 and vaccination.

In response to this demonstrated need, Breakthrough ACTION in collaboration with partners in Nigeria developed the “Building Trust and Empathy Around COVID-19” training curriculum, which aims to not only build the skills of HCWs in providing empathetic care but also support them in navigating their own self-care to avoid burnout during an emergency. The training combines an in-person component along with virtual coaching support and reference materials. These include:

A blog on Breakthrough ACTION’s website describes the training curriculum and lessons learned.

Source: Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs

Date of Publication: February 3, 2023

Breakthrough ACTION Sénégal Matériel de campagne Une Seule Santé/ PZD Imprimé

Une série de fiches d’information et d’affiches de deux pages traitant de la grippe aviaire, d’Ebola, de la rage, de la fièvre de la vallée du Rift, de la tuberculose bovine, de l’anthrax, du lavage des mains après avoir manipulé des animaux et de la manipulation sûre des animaux.

Source: Breakthrough ACTION Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs

Date of Publication: September 28, 2022

Job Aid: Diagnosis of Obstetric Fistula

This is a checklist-type job aid for health professionals to use when a woman presents with leakage of urine at a primary health center. The yes/no flowchart guides the health care worker through a series of questions to determine if the diagnosis is indeed obstetric fistula. If it is, there is a list of recommendations to prepare the patient for repair surgery.

Source: EngenderHealth

Date of Publication: November 16, 2021

How to Use Chlorhexidine Job Aid

This one page job aid is an instructional sheet developed in pictorial format inorder to instruct healthworkers about how to apply CHX on the umbilical cords of newborns.

SI Research & Training Institute, Inc./Chlorhexidine Navi (Cord) Care Program Nepal (JSI/CNCP) is funded as a part of Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development through USAID. Chlorhexidine for cord care is implemented both at health facility and community through out Nepal by September 2017.

Source: FHI 360, Permission taken from Nepal government

Date of Publication: November 5, 2021

Going to the American Tropics?

A poster warning people planning to travel to the American Tropics of the dangers of mosquito bites – for prevention of dengue, Zika virus, and Chikungunya.

Prevention information includes:

  • Use insect repellent
  • Use air conditioning or window/door screens
  • Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants

Source: US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Date of Publication: October 20, 2021

Client-Centered Reproductive Health Counseling following Fistula Repair

This poster provides guidance on how to advise women following fistula repair, depending on whether they wish to become pregnant or are willing to wait up to one year before becoming pregnant.

Source: EngenderHealth

Date of Publication: October 19, 2021