Introducing the SBC Flow Chart

Written by Claudia Vondrasek, Programs and Integration Director, Breakthrough ACTION

Three Phases

Define, Design & Test, and Apply are the three phases of the Social and Behavior Change Flow Chart, the process used to develop social and behavior change (SBC). This new process is a further iteration of processes used previously to design strategies and activities to address challenges in health, particularly the underlying social and behavioral determinants of health.

Users at the Center

So, what is new about this process? It blends techniques used in design and behavioral science with traditional formative research methods of social and behavior change communication (SBCC) and community engagement. The process helps users to reach deep insights about the problem and the context. Those insights are used by stakeholders to co-create and test potential solutions.

Prompting Change

The solutions draw from multiple disciplines and do not rely exclusively on SBCC as was previously the case. Today, we draw on SBCC and add other types of solutions, like structural or policy changes that may have been barriers to improvements in health.

Although communication is often at the heart of the solutions, some social and behavior change solutions include structural change, to change the policy or physical environments that may have been barriers to improvements in health.

Monitoring and Knowledge Management

Testing, piloting, progressive implementation of solutions requires rigorous monitoring, another key in the new process. And knowledge management keeps stakeholders in the loop regarding the success or the modifications of the solutions to make them even more effective.

Using the SBC Flow Chart to Find Solutions for Health Challenges

With this SBC Flow Chart, we expect the integration of the disciplines will mean some intractable challenges become less sticky. Data coming from the application of the solutions developed with the SBC Flow Chart are promising. Find examples of the SBC Flow Chart in action in the Country Spotlights that range from malaria and Zika to family planning and tuberculosis.