Reflections on Using IVR in FP Activities

Interactive Voice Response messaging was used to target a specific segment of women (healthy proactives) in Niger to pretest and iterate FP related messaging. Women had the option to respond in two local languages or in French.

Source: Population Services International

Date of Publication: March 1, 2021

SIMILIAR RESOURCES

Tools

Examples

Examining Male and Female Family Planning Attitudes and Behaviors in Niger

This slide deck reviews an analysis of the Female Segmentation study from 2015 and the Male Segmentation study done in 2017, both in Niger. This study was completed under the Transform/PHARE project.

Source: Population Services International

Date of Publication: February 23, 2021

Country Focus: Zambia

Zambia Compass

The Zambia Compass is a curated collection of high quality social and behavior change materials that have been developed using a strategic planning process and have documented success in multiple contexts including Zambia. The platform is created for SBC practitioners, program managers, researchers and students from both government and non-governmental organizations, research institutions and the private sector among others.

Breakthrough ACTION Zambia

Breakthrough ACTION Zambia (20172020) worked with beneficiaries and stakeholders to design and pilot innovative interventions. All activities were evidence-informed and theory-based, focusing on three primary objectives:

  • Reduce barriers to adoption of priority social and individual behaviors
  • Strengthen functional linkages between health facilities
  • Improve the capacity and commitment of Zambian institutions to fund, coordinate, design and implement effective SBC programming

Health Communication Partnership (HCP) Zambia

HCP Zambia’s achievements included:

Zambia Integrated Systems Strengthening Project (ZISSP)

The Zambia Integrated Systems Strengthening Program (ZISSP) (2010-2014) was a four-and-a-half year USAID-funded, Abt Associates-led project which increased the use of quality, high-impact health services through a health systems strengthening approach in Zambia.

Source: Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs

Date of Publication: February 17, 2021

The CDC Says Tight-Fit Masks or Double Masking Increases Protection

New research by the agency shows that transmission of the virus can be reduced by up to 96.5 percent if both an infected individual and an uninfected individual wear tightly fitted surgical masks or a cloth-and-surgical-mask combination.

One option for reducing transmission is to wear a cloth mask over a surgical mask, the agency said. The alternative is to fit the surgical mask more tightly on the face by “knotting and tucking” — that is, knotting the two strands of the ear loops together where they attach to the edge of the mask, then folding and flattening the extra fabric at the mask’s edge and tucking it in for a tighter seal.

Other effective options that improve the fit include using a mask-fitter — a frame contoured to the face — over a mask, or wearing a sleeve of sheer nylon hosiery material around the neck and pulled up over a cloth or surgical mask, the C.D.C. said.

Source: US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Date of Publication: February 15, 2021

End of Project Report: The Communication for Health Project in Ethiopia

Thr Communication for Health project, the flagship Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) project was implemented in Ethiopia from June 2015 to December 2020, with funding and technical support provided by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). CCP and subcontractor John Snow, Inc. (JSI) partnered with the Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) and regional health bureaus (RHBs) to build the health system’s capacity in SBCC and implement innovative SBCC interventions to improve the health practices of individuals and communities.

Communication for Health intervened in 160 woredas in four major regions—Amhara, Oromia, South Nations Nationals and Peoples (SNNP), and Tigray—across six health areas: reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH); prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT); malaria; nutrition; tuberculosis; and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). The project added Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) activities in 2018, focusing on emerging infectious disease risk communication for the country’s priority zoonotic diseases: rabies, anthrax, brucellosis, and avian influenza.

Source: Communication for Health Ethiopia

Date of Publication: February 8, 2021

7 Acts of Self-care You Can Practice during a Winter Lockdown

This is a report from a survey taken in Britain during its third lockdown. This survey found that 60 percent of Britons are finding it harder to stay positive during this time.

The authors spoke to psychologists and mental health experts about things one can do if one’s mental wellbeing is being affected by the winter lockdown.

Source: Mashable.com

Date of Publication: January 28, 2021

HIV and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights: Visions, Voices, and Priorities of Young People Living with and Most Affected by HIV

Link Up is a five-country project to improve the sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) of one million young people most affected by HIV in Bangladesh, Burundi, Ethiopia, Myanmar and Uganda. It is designed to strengthen the integration of HIV and SRHR programs and service delivery, focusing specifically on young men who have sex with men, sex workers, people who use drugs, transgender people, and young women and men living with HIV.

The following prioriites are outlined, along with guidelines for implementing each:

1. Provide quality sexual and reproductive health services from ethical and well-trained health service providers tailored to the needs, rights, and desires of young people—especially those living with and most affected by HIV

2. Protect, respect, and promote young people’s sexual and reproductive rights, including their right to love and be loved safely and freely

3. Ensure full access to age-appropriate information and education on HIV and sexual and reproductive health and rights, including on sexual orientation and gender identity

4. Promote gender equality and address gender-based violence, including sexual violence, in all its forms, including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity

5. Meaningfully engage young people, in all their diversity, in all decision-making that affects their lives

Source: International HIV/AIDS Alliance

Date of Publication: January 21, 2021

Les supports de communication” tester traiter tous”

En février 2017, le Programme Nationale pour la Lutte contre le Sida en Côte d’Ivoire (PNLS CI) a émis une note circulaire aux prestataires de santé pour annoncer l’adoption de l’approche “Tester et traiter tous” comme nouvelle stratégie de prise en charge des personnes vivant avec le VIH en Côte d’Ivoire.

Bien que les prestataires soient avisés de cette nouvelle approche, elle n’est pas bien connue du grand public et des populations à risque en particulier. Les Ivoiriens connaissent peu les bénéfices de cette nouvelle approche pour l’individu par rapport à la santé, mais aussi les bénéfices non sanitaires comme la productivité continue et moins de frais pour les maladies plus graves.

Dans ce contexte, pour informer les individus et les familles des avantages du traitement précoce et les services de traitement et soutien qui leur sont offerts, Breakthrough ACTION a développé des outils de communication et opérationnalisé une stratégie de mobilisation communautaire autour de l’approche “tester et traiter tous”.

Source: Breakthrough ACTION/Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs

Date of Publication: January 19, 2021

Increasing Immunization Uptake through a Rapid Surveillance and Response System Monitoring Trust

Trust is fundamental to the effectiveness of public health programs, including immunization, as it is associated with program adherence. Adherence, in turn, is essential for improving critical public health outcomes.

Several studies have demonstrated the role population trust in risk communication activities generally; unfortunately, public trust in immunization programs has waned in recent years. This has had disastrous implications on population health as epidemics of once-eliminated diseases are now on the rise.

The goal of the International Vaccine Access Center is to support the development of an immunization trust surveillance platform that can rapidly identify and support responses to immunization program distrust, including efforts to build community trust and mitigate misinformation. The platform will be developed together with critical inputs from local government agencies and community level leaders, for sustainability and ownership.

This study explains a project undertaken in India to increase immunization uptake.

Source: International Vaccine Access Center, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

Date of Publication: January 6, 2021

Vaccine Hesitancy: An Overview on Parents’ Opinions about Vaccination and Possible Reasons of Vaccine Refusal

Vaccine hesitancy has increased worldwide with a subsequent decreasing of vaccination rates and outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases (i.e. measles, poliomyelitis and pertussis) in several developed countries, including Italy.

The authors conducted a survey to investigate the attitudes of a parents’ sample about vaccinations by the distribution of questionnaires in six lower secondary schools of the Italian city of Messina.

Data analysis showed that parents are, theoretically, favorable towards vaccinations but have little knowledge of such practices, sometimes not being unaware of the types of vaccines administrated to their children. Health education and communication of correct information are certainly the cornerstones to improve the situation and to fight the widespread and non-grounded fears about vaccines.

Source: Journal of Public Health Research

Date of Publication: December 14, 2020