Malawi Malaria Communication Strategy 2015-2020

This communication strategy targets specific barriers to malaria treatment-seeking and net use, and seeks to address or remove them for the purpose of increasing LLIN use, IPTp and prompt malaria treatment to 80% from the current baseline.

The primary audiences focused on are 1) heads of household (HH), 2) women of childbearing age, 3) adult patients and 4) caretakers of sick children. Secondary and tertiary audiences include husbands and other men in the community, older women in HHs, community leaders, health workers and relevant government departments. The strategy employs a socioecological model that recognizes that behavior change happens within the context of the interrelatedness of the individual, family, community and the wider societal environment.

Source: SSDI-Communication

Date of Publication: March 25, 2019

Post-Earthquake Communications Plan

The purpose of this plan, developed shortly after the devestating earthquakes in Nepal in the spring of 2015, is to communicate health risks with communities directly affected by the earthquake in 14 priority districts by focusing on interpersonal communications, dissemination of information, and community mobilization through community volunteers, including frontline health workers and civil society organizations for the immediate six month period May-October 2015.

With 2.8 million people displaced, and many living in crowded temporary shelters with compromised hygiene and sanitary conditions, there was heightened concern about the increase in communicable diseases. Effective communication through community engagement, promotion of hygiene, sanitation and desired behaviors for prevention of diseases needed to be in place as soon as possible, in order to mitigate and minimize the health impacts of the emergency.

In order to prevent possible outbreaks of infectious diseases, disability and exacerbation of public health problems, the communications plan intended to reach communities in selected districts to:

  • Communicate health risks among affected populations and actions to be taken to avoid and prevent diseases
  • Encourage affected communities to practice key health/nutrition/WASH behaviours
  • Mobilize frontline workers, community networks and resources to reach affected populations
  • Advocate with district disaster response teams to prioritize health communications in post-earthquake response

Source: Nepal Ministry of Health and Population

Date of Publication: March 25, 2019

SBCC Strategy and Implementation Guide [Guatemala]

This guide and strategy was designed for the Western Highlands of Guatemala provides a general framework for communication that supports the implementation of the SBCC Strategy (implemented in 2011) by the Ministries of Health and Education, which encompasses nutrition, family planning, maternal and child health, and HIV. The Implementation Guide aims to facilitate systematic coordination of the Strategy at all levels by SBCC planners and the integration of health interventions using the life stage approach in homes and communities (young parents, mature families, children 6-13, and adolescents) as an organizing principle.

The overall purpose of the Implementation Guide is to ensure the coordination and synergy of SBCC in nutrition, maternal and child health, family planning, and HIV, ensuring that interventions are consistent and define a common measure of success. A convergence approach integrates USAID/Health and Education Office’s key health areas–nutrition, maternal child health, reproductive health, HIV–as they apply to people in each lifestage. The convergence approach is based on three principles–that the families and communities are the drivers of their health; that the SBCC strategy addresses environmental and structural issues, and that the systems in place to support healthy outcomes are strengthened. The implementation guide was extensively field tested by C-Change and is used in 30 municipalities in the Guatemalan Highlands.

The English and Spanish versions of the Strategy and Implementation Guide are combined in the PDF attached.

Source: FHI 360

Date of Publication: March 25, 2019

SBCC Strategy Malawi, 2011-2016

This document presents a unified strategy for communicating about six major health priority areas: malaria; maternal, neonatal and child health (MNCH); water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); family planning (FP); HIV and AIDS; and nutrition. Additionnally, this integrated strategy explores and addresss social norms and conditions that influence people’s health behavior.

The strategy is organized into three major parts for ease of implementation:

  • Part 1: overarching strategic approach and positioning
  • Part 2: specific lifestage audiences that SSDI is targeting
  • Part 3: implementation plan as well as the monitoring and evaluation plans

Source: SSDI-Communication

Date of Publication: March 25, 2019

Scotland’s National Action Plan to Prevent and Eradicate FGM

The purpose of this National Action Plan is to foster an environment of prevention in Scotland and to improve the welfare and quality of life of FGM survivors, with a focus on the linked areas of prevention, protecting girls at risk of FGM; and provision of appropriate support and sensitive services for survivors of FGM.

The strategic approach of the plan recognizes the need to prioritize prevention/protection from FGM, provision of services/ appropriate support to those who have experienced FGM, and to hold perpetrators to account.

Source: Government of Scotland

Date of Publication: March 25, 2019

South Africa National HIV Counseling and Testing Campaign Strategy

The objectives of the campaign outlined in this strategy are:

  • Mobilize people to know their status
  • Support people with key prevention messaging in order to take proactive steps to a healthy lifestyle irrespective of HIV status
  • Increase incidence of health seeking behavior
  • Increase the access to treatment, care and support

Source: South African National AIDS Council

Date of Publication: March 25, 2019

Sri Lanka National Condom Strategy 2016-2020

The goals of this national condom strategy for Sri Lanka are to:

  • Ensure the availability of a responsive service delivery system, and resources in adequate quantity and quality, for effective condom programming
  • Strengthen the national network of condom programming with the partnership of other stakeholders, to ensure the uninterrupted supply of condoms to meet the optimal demand
  • Empower relevant target groups for optimal demand and accessibility for services without stigma and discrimination, in order to prevent STI/HIV and unwanted pregnancies

The main strategies used are:

  • Leadership and coordination
  • Supply and commodity security
  • Support systems (programming)
  • Demand, access and utilization

Source: National STD/AIDS Control Programme Ministry of Health, Nutrition & Indigenous Medicine and The United Nations Population Fund

Date of Publication: March 25, 2019

Strategic Communication Framework for Zika

This framework provides step-by-step guidance and illustrative content for creating a strategic communication strategy to communicate accurately and effectively about Zika risk and prevention in an easy-to-understand and comprehensive format.

It builds on the messaging developed in the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) Risk Communication and Community Engagement for Zika Virus Prevention and Control guidance, and is intended to guide country-level communication strategies. This framework follows a systematic process and provides content that is readily adaptable by any communication program.

The strategy is attached in one PDF combining English and Portuguese versions.

Source: Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs

Date of Publication: March 25, 2019

Strategic Design of Mass Media to Promote Breastfeeding

Alive & Thrive is an initiative in Viet Nam aimed at improving infant and young child feeding by increasing rates of exclusive breastfeeding and improving complementary feeding practices.

This document outlines the 6 steps used to design A&T’s “talking babies” mass media campaign in Viet Nam, discusses the behavioral theory and research behind the strategy, and presents the results.

Source: Alive & Thrive

Date of Publication: March 25, 2019