WHAT I LEARNED TODAY: Day 10 of the free online C-Modules course on social and behaviour change communication

I am currently reviewing Module 0 (Facilitator's Handbook), which lays an important foundation for the rest of the course. It breaks down concepts and principles that are to be used throughout the course.

These include:

• THE DEFINITION OF SOCIAL AND BEHAVIOUR CHANGE COMMUNICATION (SBCC)
• AN OVERVIEW OF THE COURSE
• CURRENT PROJECTS
• CHARACTERISTICS OF SBCC
• TEN SBCC PRINCIPLES
• THE THEORETICAL BASE OF THE SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL MODEL

On Day 05 I reviewed sub heading four: “Characteristics of SBCC”. I learned that SBCC has three (3) characteristics:

SBCC is a process.

• It is interactive, researched, planned and strategic;
• It aims to change social conditions and individual behaviours.

SBCC applies a comprehensive, socio-ecological model to identify effective tipping points for change by examining:

• individual knowledge, motivation, and other behaviour change communication concepts
• social, cultural, and gender norms, skills, physical and economic access, and legislation that contribute to an enabling environment

SBCC uses 3 key strategies:

• ADVOCACY – to raise resources as well as political and social leadership commitment to development actions and goals
• SOCIAL MOBILIZATION – for wider participation, coalition building, and ownership, including community mobilization
• BEHAVIOUR CHANGE COMMUNICATION – for changes in knowledge, attitudes, and practices among specific audiences

Over the next few days, I will discuss each of these characteristics in detail.

TODAY I WILL CONTINUE TO DISCUSS CHARACTERISTIC 2: SBCC uses a socio-ecological model for change, and I will specifically focus on “Defining C-Changes' Socio-Ecological Model”

"The study of health behaviour in isolation from the broader social and environmental context is incomplete and has contributed to disappointing results from experiments in behavior change." ~ Glass and McAtee (2006)

I learned that Ecological Models of Change became increasingly popular after practitioners realized the short comings of models that focused on individuals. Over time, it became clearer that an individual is not in total control of her/his behavior and living conditions. Instead, what is required for sustainable  behaviour change is a multi-layered approach that focuses on several levels.

The ecological perspective considers:

1. Multiple levels of factors influence social and behaviour change.
2. Levels of factors can include individual, interpersonal, community/organizational, and national/political/environmental.
3. Influences interact across levels.
4. Multi-level interventions addressing various influences are more robust than individual-led interventions.

(Adapted from Sallis, Owen and Fisher 2008.)

Photo credit: Google images

Against this backdrop, C-Changes' Socio-Ecological Model for Change views social and behaviour change as a product of multiple, over-lapping levels of influence -- individual, interpersonal, community, and organizational -- as well as political and environmental factors (Sallis, Owen and Fisher 2008). This model emphasizes the need to go beyond ad hoc interventions to coordinated social change efforts.

Furthermore, I learned that throughout this course, the Socio-Ecological Model for Change will be used to find the strongest tipping point for change.

Interested in signing up for this course? CLICK HERE.

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C-Modules were developed by C-Change, funded by USAID under Cooperative Agreement No. GPO-A-00-07-0004-00. The six modules can be freely downloaded and used, provided full credit is given to C-Change as follows: C-Change (Communication for Change). 2011. C-Modules: A Learning Package for Social and Behavior Change Communication. Washington, DC: FHI 360/C-Change.