Social & Behavior Change
Supporting behaviors that achieve results
Preventing malaria infections and deaths depends on the acceptance and correct and consistent use of proven interventions. PMI works with partner countries to address the factors that influence whether health providers follow national guidelines and whether families do things like sleep under insecticide-treated nets, seek care for fever, and allow spray operators into their homes.
When tailored to the specific country context and needs, social and behavior change (SBC) activities play an important role in achieving the desired individual-level, community-wide, and public health impact.
PMI assists partner countries in:
- designing and implementing evidence-based activities meant to change behavior in both communities and health workers
- monitoring and evaluating these activities
- strengthening the scientific evidence base for social behavior change
- bolstering their ability to manage this work locally
STORIES ABOUT SOCIAL & BEHAVIOR CHANGE
Broadcasts that Save Lives: A Radio Show Anchor Spreads Crucial Health Information in Nigeria
Retired health worker Grace Akpegi reinvents herself as a radio show anchor and uses her public platform to encourage healthy behaviors that prevent malaria infections and save lives.
Using television to reinforce the importance of malaria care-seeking during the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya
How PMI supported production of a short animation to encourage people with fever to get tested for malaria and make them feel safe about coming to health facilities
In Zambia, More Methods Mean More Impact
Using a multichannel approach, Zambia’s “Life is Precious, Take Care of It” campaign improved malaria prevention and care-seeking behaviors
PMI-SUPPORTED SBC RESOURCES
MALARIA BEHAVIOR SURVEY
A cross-sectional survey to generate data to develop evidence-based malaria SBC programs and strategies to increase practice of behaviors.This site hosts survey tools and templates as well as data sets and briefs from completed surveys.
OPTIONAL MODULE FOR MALARIA INDICATOR SURVEY
The indicators of this standard questionnaire can be used to help countries identify: (1) the populations/areas that need to be targeted, (2) the SBC approaches that are likely to be most effective, and (3) the kinds of messages that should be promoted to facilitate behavior change.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE IMPACT
A searchable database of more than 100 articles describing interventions or studies that show evidence of impact on malaria behaviors
ITN ACCESS AND USE REPORT
An interactive site providing decision-makers with key indicators related to use and access of insecticide-treated nets (ITNs)
SBC GUIDANCE FOR AN. STEPHENSI IN AFRICA
An evidence-based guide on individual, household, and community-level behaviors for support of An. stephensi mitigation and control intervention
BLUEPRINT FOR APPLYING BEHAVIORAL INSIGHTS TO MALARIA SERVICE DELIVERY
A framework for understanding provider behavior that can be used to identify factors that influence behavior, develop appropriate targeted activities, and conduct monitoring and evaluation
MALARIA SBC TOOLKIT FOR COMMUNITY AND FAITH LEADERS
A toolkit to guide organizations on how to use their own strengths, community connections, and resources to educate on how to prevent malaria and support proper treatment in local communities
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR SBC
PMI participates in and supports the RBM Partnership to End Malaria’s SBC Working Group. This is a forum for exchanging experiences and promoting the development of theory-informed, evidence-based SBC programming at the country level.
Working group resources include guides, checklists and strategies for malaria SBC strategy development, measurement and evaluation, reporting, and more.
Other SBC capacity strengthening resources supported by PMI include free online courses on SBC Learning Central; the Compass for SBC resource repository; and the Springboard online community.
