"This toolkit is a resource for everyone working in emergency situations caused by natural disasters. It is designed to help programme managers from UNICEF, UN agencies, NGO partners and government personnel to prepare, plan, implement and monitor behaviour change communication initiatives supportin
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g health, hygiene and child protection efforts in emergencies." (Introduction)
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"The Uganda Nutrition and Early Childhood Development Project was one of DevComm’s first projects to demonstrate the value-added of strategic communication. The strategic communication component developed for this project included the use of formative research about values and attitudes with respe
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ct to child rearing, in order to develop and test effective messages. The communication strategy was developed in a highly participatory manner and included nurturing a team of champions for the project among policymakers, district officials, community leaders, and grassroots organizations to advocate for the project. It also included two-way communication activities developed to address the practices and behaviors that would need to be changed in order for the project to be successful, rather than merely disseminating messages based on assumptions of project benefits." (Back cover)
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"This article describes the evaluation of the HIV/AIDS communication aspect of the multi media Soul City health promotion intervention in South Africa. The intervention consists of a television and radio drama and print material. The evaluation was multifaceted with a before and after national surve
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y and a national qualitative study. In the before and after survey change was measured and then multiple regression analysis was performed to assess the variables associated with the change. The qualitative study consisted of focus group discussions, which were analysed thematically. The studies show that there are numerous instances of community change and how the change is mediated at the community level. The studies also describe the change at a number of levels of the described behaviour change model for individuals." (Abstract)
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"The concept of a Regional BCC Network for HIV/AIDS for East, Central and Southern Africa (ECSA) grew out of a common interest and understanding among a number of BCC practitioners dealing with HIV/AIDS in the region that something needed to be done to help address common challenges and needs, impro
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ve strategies, and build capacity in the area of BCC. In October 2001, they formed a BCC Task Force to recommend specific activities for addressing key areas of interest in BCC and for coordinating BCC efforts in the region, including organising a wider regional meeting for initiating a formal regional BCC Network [...] The objectives of the meeting were to: share lessons learned and interventions in BCC in the ECSA region; discuss key current issues and BCC tools for HIV/AIDS; discuss the expansion and operationalisation of the BCC Network for HIV/AIDS; foster linkages among BCC practitioners and those in allied professions in ECSA. The main themes of the meeting agenda highlighted the emerging issues in planning and programming for BCC; developing BCC for care and treatment; addressing stigma; reaching youth; and strengthening research, monitoring, and evaluation of BCC interventions [...] This report is an overview of the proceedings of the meeting and is intended to serve as a resource and learning document for meeting participants as well as for other BCC practitioners in the region. The structure of the report follows that of the meeting agenda and includes a summary of all plenary and concurrent session presentations and all group work discussions." (Executive summary)
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"This literature review explores current thinking and analysis of the role of culture in development communications addressing HIV and AIDS prevention, treatment and care. It takes as its starting point the relationship between culture and the global strategic response to HIV/AIDS, tracing the impli
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cations of an absence in cultural thinking in global action strategies devised by lead bodies. It explores recent progress in developing a cultural approach to HIV/AIDS, including work by UNESCO, and the challenges faced by current dominant modes of development communications which draw on cultural approaches. The primary challenges, it argues, stem from an overt focus on behaviour change, coupled with the dominance of Western-derived IEC (Information, Education, Communication) methods which allow little space for community participation. A further challenge arises from current Monitoring and Evaluation methods. The ‘levels’ model of culture and development, which evolved from the Routemapping Culture and Development project by Creative Exchange, is seen as offering an opportunity for a more complex understanding of the relationship between culture, development and development communications. The review makes the point that adapting current modes of development communication to incorporate more culturally sensitive approaches will require greater commitment to community participation, and wider recognition of cultural issues among development actors." (Abstract)
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"This document accompanies a toolkit designed to help Bank task managers plan and supervise the implementation of communication activities in population, health, and nutrition (PHN) projects. It reviews the basic principles of communication for behavior change, presenting a step-by-stop guide to pla
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nning and implementing communication activities and linking those steps to the Bank's project cycle. The toolkit contains a set of practical modules, including: communication research approaches for bank projects; a guide to communication indicators; sample term of reference for Bank and Borrower consultants; guide questions for assessing organizational capacity; sample budget and implementation plan; and case studies of best practice in behavior change communication." (Publisher description)
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"This report focuses on the way in which the response to the pandemic has been shaped, with a particular emphasis on the way in which communication has been used. Often the emphasis is on information dissemination, and the distribution of health messages. While information is vital, past successes i
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n fighting AIDS suggest that approaches need to be far broader than this. A politicised civil society, with communities able to take ownership of the response to HIV/AIDS, can catalyse extraordinary change and mobilisation. Similarly, a media able to support informed, inclusive debate will also be critical to future successes." (Cover)
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"The Johns Hopkins University Population Communication Services (JHU/PCS) project has been the Office of Population’s leading project for communication and behavior change since 1982. Now working under its fourth cooperative agreement* with USAID, JHU/PCS and its subcontractors provide technical a
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nd financial support for communication projects in all stages of design, implementation, and assessment, including audience identification, message design, determination of appropriate media mix, materials development, and program evaluation. Previous versions of the PCS project (i.e., those carried out under the first three PCS projects) emphasized production of and training for the development of posters, brochures, flip charts, and other materials for providers and facilities materials which were largely lacking at that time. The earlier projects also pioneered the use of mass media, music, and drama for family planning and health promotion. The design of the current PCS project recognizes the importance of community mobilization and interpersonal communication and counseling (IPC/C), and incorporates all three elements in a three-pronged strategy wherever possible. In addition to these planned additional areas of responsibility, PCS IV has become increasingly involved in functional areas that were not anticipated when it was awarded in 1995. These include child survival (including polio eradication), prevention of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), environmental health, and—representing the most obvious departure from the project’s traditional orientation—democracy and governance. PCS has assumed responsibility for virtually all of these unanticipated new tasks in response to field support–funded requests from USAID Missions. Indeed, the field support–driven nature of the PCS project is one of its central characteristics. At present, approximately 80 percent of PCS funds are derived from Mission field support funds—a substantial portion of which (approximately 30 percent) has been provided to address communication needs in the areas beyond family planning/reproductive health noted above. The evaluation presented herein was designed to assess JHU/PCS performance in meeting the objectives set forth in the current cooperative agreement, as well as to examine the project’s effectiveness in responding to these new and unforeseen challenges. The evaluation team was asked to review the tools and methodology that JHU/PCS and its partners apply to these tasks, as well as the communication science that underlies PCS’s strategic approach." (Executive summary)
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"Health communication scholars have tried to understand how individuals process information and have identided the factors that contribute to appropriate behavior change. Some of these theorists have, implicitly or explicitly, assumed that if individuals were provided with the ““rightÏÏ inform
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ation they would adopt the recommended behavior. Some others have endorsed the need to provide behavioral skills along with information so that individuals are able to carry out the desired behavior. Both approaches, however, are concerned with individual behavior change. Sociodemographic variables like class, gender, and race have seldom Ðgured in sociopsychological analyses in the AIDS context. L imited attention has been paid to the manner in which political, economic, and social variables have constrained or enabled individual behavior related to AIDS. In this article, the various sociopsychological theories/models that inform AIDS prevention are delineated; the sociopsychological approaches in the context of class, race, and gender issues are critiqued; and an analytical framework that integrates behavioral and societal level variables to guide policy interventions is provided." (Abstract)
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