Social and Behaviour Change Communication

Ms. Veena Kumari, C4D officer for UNICEF discussed at length about the  concept of ‘Social and Behaviour Change Communication’ (SBCC), which is commonly known to the layman as ‘Communication for Development’.  She said that this particular area is relatively new in the sphere of health communication where the onus of importance is given on how communication tools can be used effectively to disseminate information specially on pressing health problems of the masses at the grassroots level. She even mentioned that providing access to information is a core function of development communication besides encouraging people’s participation in decision making processes. In her opinion, if the vulnerable segments of the population are better informed, they can claim their rights and hopefully make use of state resources/services more purposefully to pull themselves out of poverty and lead a healthy life. Ms. Kumari then moved on to discuss the percentage share of different communication activities that an individual on an average spends. A typical study in this regard pointed out the fact that people spent about 45% of the waking hours on listening, 30% of the time on speaking, 16% on reading and the remaining 9 % on writing. As far as the art of speaking is concerned, it has been mentioned that words only convey about 7% of what one is trying to say , 38%  on the tone of the voice and the remaining 55% on facial expressions.

She categorically stated that the ‘ Social and Behaviour Change Communication’ makes use of the most powerful  and fundamental human interaction – communication- to exert a positive influence on the social dimensions (knowledge, attitudes, norms and cultural practices) of health and well-being. Thus, according to her, SBCC uses creative ideas to focus on-

Ø  Changing or positively influencing social norms in support of long time sustainable behavior change at the population level

Ø  Strengthening community responses to the core issues ; and

Ø  Influencing decision makers, family and peer network.

Emphasizing on the need and importance in bringing about changes in the very fabric of the society along with the behavior of the people, Singh said that social and behavior change are complementary to each other. In fact, social change will have an impact on the mindset of the individuals ensuring that change is sustainable. Thus, according to her, certain program needs to be implemented by the different media platforms that would initiate the development process in the society. Citing the example of film as a medium for disseminating socially relevant messages, she said that films like ‘Toilet :Ek Prem Katha’ have managed to create  a positive impact on the minds of people. The director held a mirror to the society by focusing on how superstitious villagers, lazy administration and corrupt politicians have actually converted India into the world’s largest shit-pond. 

She also delved on the evolution of the concept of SBCC over a period of time stating that the implementation of IEC (Information Education Communication) actually gave a solid foundation for BCC (Behaviour Change Communication) and later on SBCC to take a shape. The common line of thread which crisscross the three approaches is an attempt to change or reinforce a set of behavior in a target audience regarding a specific problem in a predefined period. She cited some of the earlier Government initiatives (like immunization programmes including pulse polio campaigns) for enhancing the health education in the country. Closer home, the National Health Mission in Assam has also been working relentlessly to sensitize the people and create awareness regarding various health issues.

Singh also highlighted some of the key issues concerning human behavior as given below-

Ø  People interpret and give meaning to information based on the context in which they live

Ø  Culture, norms and network influence people’s behavior.

Ø  People always cannot control the issues that determine their behavior

Ø  People’s decisions about health and well being compete with other priorities ; and

Ø  People often make decisions that are based on emotional factors and logic.

 According to her, Social and Behavior Change Communication is the systematic application of interactive, theory based and research –driven communication processes and strategies  to address ‘tipping points’ for change at the individual, community and social levels. In this context, ‘tipping point’ refers to the dynamics of social change where trends rapidly evolve into permanent changes.

Thus, the afore mentioned definition of SBCC lead to the following three characteristics –

v  It is an interactive , researched and planned process

v  It requires a socio-ecological model for analysis at finding the tipping point for change

v  It operates through three main strategies-advocacy, social mobilization and behavioral change communication.

As far as the SBCC being a planned process is concerned, she said that five steps are involved in this process like (i)  Understanding the situation (ii) Focusing and designing of messages (iii) Creating of messages (iv) Implementing and monitoring of different campaigns and initiatives ; and finally (v) Evaluating and Re-planning of the different messages and campaigns

The Social Ecological Model (SEM) as pointed out by Veena is a theory-based framework for understanding the multifaceted and interactive effects of personal and environmental factors that determine behaviors, and for identifying behavioral and organizational leverage points and intermediaries for health promotion within organizations. Accordingly, there are five nested, hierarchical levels of the SEM:  individual, interpersonal, community, organizational, and policy/enabling environment. The different levels are in the form of a concentric circle and are interrelated to each other. The opinions of the community leaders and service providers also influence the decision making ability of the common masses to a great extent. Thereafter comes the influence of the family and peer groups whose opinions matter the most when it comes to some of the core family oriented issues. Overall the concerned individual himself/herself has to have the motivation, willingness and the ability to work for the betterment of the society.

Summing up, Ms. Kumari gave an overall view of the entire concept of ‘Social and Behavior Change Communication’ and the various factors that contributes in shaping the behavior of the people along with bringing a societal change. She also rightly pointed out the fact that every bit of information that percolates to the grassroots level must reflect the actual scenario that prevails and not just something that is intended to glorify the image of the concerned society at large.

Report prepared by Dr. Trisha D Baruah on the fourth session, October 27, 2017 on Refresher Course on Communication for Development organised by Department of Communication and Journalism and UGC-HRDC, Gauhati University with support from UNICEF, Assam