A growing body of evidence suggests that SBC interventions improve health outcomes, either directly or through pathways that address intermediate determinants such as attitudes and norms, yet barriers still exist to SBC inclusion in investments. Some SBC interventions are more effective than others, and the estimated effectiveness of SBC interventions varies depending on the measures we use to assess them. The measurement of SBC interventions and SBC implementation science approaches can also be important in addressing questions around scale-up and program replication.
More resources will be added to this page as the project continues to curate and synthesize the key messages and lessons learned during the project.
Related Virtual Event
Advancing SBC Measurement for Family Planning
28 Feb 2023
Materials related to the webinar
- Legacy resource document: Advancing Social and Behavior Change Measurement in Family Planning [English │ French]
- Slide Deck
- Webinar recording [English │ French]
- Mentimeter results
Learn More
Foundations for Advancing SBC Measurement
- Report: Strengthening Social and Behavior Change Monitoring and Evaluation for Family Planning in Francophone West Africa
- Research and Learning Agenda: Advancing Provider Behavior Change Programming
- Research and Learning Agenda: Advancing Integrated SBC Programming
SBC Measurement Tools
- How-to Guide: How to Use a Theory of Change to Monitor and Evaluate Social and Behavior Change Programs [English │ French]
- Brief: Twelve Recommended SBC Indicators for Family Planning [English │ French]
- Brief: Twelve Recommended SBC Indicators for Family Planning: Indicator Reference Sheets [English │ French]
- Brief: Considerations and Guidance for Using Routine and Program Monitoring Data for Social and Behavior Change Evaluation
- Brief: Strengthening Social and Behavior Change Measurement in the RISE II Program
- Brief: Informing Social and Behavior Change Programs Using Social Listening and Social Monitoring [English │ French]
- How-to Guide: How to Leverage Social Listening to Inform Social and Behavior Change Programs
- Brief: Understanding the Costs of SBC Social Media Interventions
- Brief: How to Measure Provider Behavior Change Impact (English or French)
- Learning Course: How to Measure Provider Behavior Change Impact (English or French)
- Technical Reference Sheet: Using the Provider Authoritarian Attitude Scale
Applying Research and Evaluation Methods to SBC
Expanding the tools in the research and evaluation toolbox to better understand how SBC approaches can strengthen family planning programs and help these programs meet their goals requires learning from the methodologies employed by a range of sectors and health areas. Applications of these methodologies that are not ‘new’ but may be ‘new’ to SBC approaches in the family planning field can yield innovative insights.
Complexity Aware Methods
- Report: Determining the Most Significant Changes on Intergenerational Communication and Young People’s Family Planning and Reproductive Health Outcomes: Qualitative Evaluation of the Merci Mon Héros Media Campaign in Niger and Côte d’Ivoire [English │ French]
Segmentation
- Presentation: Finding the right fit: Using segmentation approaches to shape your SBC programming [English │ French]
- Brief: Using Audience Segmentation Approaches to Inform Integrated Family Planning and Maternal Health Programs in Niger [English │ French]
- MC Public Health manuscript: “When you live in good health with your husband, then your children are in good health ….” A qualitative exploration of how households make healthcare decisions in Maradi and Zinder Regions, Niger
Social Listening
- Report: Findings From the Merci Mon Héros Social Listening Endline Report
- Report: Using Social Listening to Inform Integrated Social and Behavior Change Programs in Burkina Faso
Mixed Methods
Adaptations and Responses to Public Health Emergencies
- Brief: In-person Data Collection During COVID-19: Considerations and lessons learned from conducting mixed methods social and behavior change research in Niger
- Brief: Behavior prioritization to improve SBC programming during a public health emergency: a call to action [English │ Spanish]
- Global Health: Science and Practice Manuscript: Evidence-Based Process for Prioritizing Positive Behaviors for Promotion: Zika Prevention in Latin America and the Caribbean and Applicability to Future Health Emergency Responses
Breakthrough RESEARCH is USAID’s flagship social and behavior change (SBC) research and evaluation project to drive the generation, packaging, and use of innovative SBC research to inform programming. A six-year project (2017–2023), Breakthrough RESEARCH was led by the Population Council in collaboration with our consortium partners: Tulane University, Avenir Health, Population Reference Bureau, Institute for Reproductive Health at Georgetown University, and ideas42. Our approach is to foster collaboration and shared learning, ensure SBC programs are based in ‘what works’, elevate the impact of evidence-based SBC programs, and put evidence into practice. Breakthrough RESEARCH did this by assessing the evidence, identifying priority research questions, designing, and implementing research studies to fill evidence gaps and strengthen programs, and synthesizing and packaging evidence for use.
Within the breadth of our research portfolio, Breakthrough RESEARCH has four main project legacy areas: provider behavior change; integrated SBC; advancing SBC measurement; and costing and cost-effectiveness of SBC. For each of these legacy areas, Breakthrough RESEARCH has curated a collection of resources highlighting the state-of-the-art evidence and the tools and guidance produced by the project over the past six years to advance evidence-based SBC programming.
For more information on the other legacy areas, visit the Breakthrough RESEARCH Legacy and Learning Series page.
