"Get off the Sexual Network" "Your side dish may have a side dish too"..."Go together, know together" "Beware of sugar daddies" "Stop: Have you washed your hands?
We see the billboards and hear the adverts all the time. But who creates them? How do the creators choose what issues to pursue, and how do they shape their campaigns? And do such messages really change behaviour and improve health?
The Uganda Health Communication Alliance and the International Center for Journalists held a workshop 1 June 2010 to explain the scientific research that shapes the slogans, and look at which campaigns have worked and which ones have failed. We also examined the role of behaviour change communication in the health system generally, and discussed how journalists should cover the campaigns.
Presentations
Kakaire A. Kirunda, veteran health journalist and fellow at the Makerere University School of Public Health-Centers for Disease Control Program Introduction to Behaviour Change Communication
Amos Zikusooka, Communications Advisor for the Health Communication Partnership; Examining BCC campaigns, going beyond the slogan…
Lynn Atuyambe, lecturer at the Makerere University School of Public Health; Behavior Change Communications in context of the Uganda Health care system
Christopher Conte, Knight International Journalism Fellow; Behaviour Change Communication and Journalism
Resources
- Behaviour Change Communication in Action, A Study of Uganda’s ABC Aids Communication Model, , Amos Zikusooka, 2006. A masters thesis by Zikusooka, now communications adviser to the Health Communication Partnership (HCP), assesses the communications strategy used in Uganda’s fight against HIV/AIDS.
- http://www.aidsuganda.org/pdf/Comments_on_ABC1.pdf : Culture Clash and AIDS Prevention,” Edward C. Green, The Responsive Community, 2003. Edward Green summarises his argument that a multi-billion dollar medical technology industry has driven western donors to favor condom-use, testing and drugs over behaviour change, which he believes holds greater promise of success, in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Green’s arguments have influenced recent behaviour-change communication projects, including the “Sexual Network” campaign.
- http://journals.lww.com/aidsonline/Citation/1995/12000/Enabling_approaches_for_HIV_AIDS_prevention__can.1.aspx: “Enabling approaches for HIV/AIDS prevention: can we modify the environment and minimize the risk?” AIDS, Official Journal of the International Aids Society, December 1995. Assesses whether deliberately-created changes in the social environment could help in Uganda’s fight against HIV/AIDS.
- http://programservices.etr.org/base/documents/Uganda-BehaviorsFormat.pdf: Success in Uganda: An Analysis of Behavior Changes that Led to Declines in HIV Prevalence in the Early 1990s, Harvard University School of Public Health, 2008. This study compiles and analyses evidence that behavior changes led to the steep decline in HIV prevalence in Uganda, and assesses the relative importance of each component of the ABC (Abstinence, Be Faithful, Use Condoms) strategy.
- http://www.hivpolicy.org/Library/HPP000533.pdf: Behavior Change Communication for HIV/AIDS: A Strategic Framework, USAID, Family Health International, 2002,
- http://www.enotes.com/public-health-encyclopedia/communication-theory : Communication Theory, Encyclopedia of Public Health. The basic concepts behind behaviour change communications.
