Breakthrough ACTION is an eight-year USAID-funded global project that accelerates the use of social and behavior change (SBC) through evidence-based tools and processes that encourage the adoption of healthy behaviors, while addressing structural barriers and underlying social and gender norms that prevent uptake of services and positive health practices.
Breakthrough ACTION institutionalizes social and behavior change (SBC) in public health by ensuring stakeholders use best practices, strengthening SBC capacities, and fostering collaborative networks. We enable evidence-based programs that transform health practices from communities to systemic levels for lasting impact.
Case Example: Institutionalizing SBC in Higher Education in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
In 2020, Breakthrough ACTION and the University of Kinshasa developed a course to improve provider-client relationships in healthcare, addressing the issue of patient distrust. The course, which focused on enhancing communication skills for health providers, was integrated into the university's medical curriculum. Its success led to rapid expansion, with 12 universities adopting the course within four years. The number of students enrolled increased from 95 to 1,092, extending to dentistry, pharmacy, and nursing. Additionally, 319 lecturers were trained to deliver the course, ensuring sustainable local capacity for social and behavior change initiatives. The course's impact has sparked interest from hospital practitioners and supervisors, demonstrating its potential to significantly improve healthcare delivery and patient trust.
Featured Video: The Changemakers Who Work to Reduce Child, Early, and Forced Marriage in Madhesh, Nepal
This video shares the stories of local stakeholders who led a movement to transform the way their communities addressed child, early, and forced marriage in Madhesh Province, Nepal.
Featured Resources
- Eight Principles for Strengthening Public Sector Social and Behavior Change Capacity
- Liberia Ministry of Health National Respectful Maternal Care Five-Year Strategy
- Media Epidemiology, Infodemic Management, and Social and Behavior Change (EIS) Fellowship Program
- Social and Behavior Change Flow Chart
- Strengthening Risk Communication and Community Engagement to Improve One Health in Liberia
- Using Human-Centered Design to Improve Malaria Outcomes in Regions 7 and 8
Lessons Learned
- Effective SBC systems thrive on robust coordination and collaboration.
- It is vital to establish local coordination structures where they do not exist, and strengthen them where they do.
- Engage local stakeholders and equip them with the SBC skills and knowledge to empower them to lead SBC efforts in their communities.
- Capacity building should be offered through a mix of formal workshops, mentorship, and learning-by-doing approaches.
- Incorporating behavioral sciences and human-centered design (HCD) into capacity-building activities equips stakeholders with a better understanding of the behavioral determinants for key behaviors, and the capacity for co-creation of novel SBC interventions.
- Fostering a culture of continuous learning and adaptation is integral to effective capacity strengthening. Regular SBC monitoring and evaluation helps identify areas for improvement underscoring the importance of flexibility and iterative improvement based on ongoing feedback and learning.
Online Courses
- Social and Behavior Change 101: An Introduction [ English | French ]
- Audience Segmentation [ English | French ]
- Introduction to Behavioral Economics [ English | French ]
- Applying Human-Centered Design to Improve Nutrition Programming [ English | French ]
- Social and Behavior Change Program Monitoring [ English | French ]
This Adobe Express page is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of Breakthrough ACTION and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
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