Evaluating the Impacts of Cross-sectoral Social and Behavior Change in Sahel/RISE II

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Resilience in the Sahel Enhanced (RISE) II programs target chronically vulnerable populations through programming to improve priority behaviors in maternal, newborn, and child health, family planning, nutrition, and water, sanitation, and hygiene.

Breakthrough RESEARCH is conducting mixed methods research to assess successes and challenges of integrated social and behavior change (SBC) programming, including its effectiveness on priority behaviors and cost-effectiveness in a climate-stressed setting. Breakthrough RESEARCH’s evaluation activities will improve the design and implementation of SBC programming in RISE II and inform USAID’s global portfolio of integrated SBC programming.

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Generating Evidence to Inform Integrated Social and Behavior Change Programming in the Sahel

The Breakthrough RESEARCH portfolio of core-funded and Sahel Regional Office funded activities that support work in the RISE II program are described in the RISE II activity brief.

Activity brief: “Generating Evidence to Inform Integrated Social and Behavior Change Programming in the Sahel” [English │ French]

Evidence to Inform an Integrated Social and Behavior Change Strategy in the Sahel

Breakthrough RESEARCH completed this literature review, which summarized the evidence, or lack thereof, in the Sahel, to establish a rationale for the planned RISE II SBC evaluation as described in the study protocol. The literature review provides an overview of the health and development challenges in the region, along with priority health behaviors and their determinants followed by a description of SBC programmatic approaches that have addressed behavioral determinants and health outcomes in the region.

  Technical report: “Evidence to Inform an Integrated Social and Behavior Change Strategy in the Sahel”

Application of the Breakthrough RESEARCH Social and Behavior Change Costing Guidelines to the RISE-II Project in Niger

Understanding the costs of SBC interventions is important for budgeting, price setting, and conducting cost-effectiveness studies, which can inform policy decisions to efficiently achieve health and development goals. In March 2020, Breakthrough RESEARCH began applying these guidelines to the RISE II program in Niger for a cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA). Baseline behavioral health data will be captured prior to the delivery of the health-related SBC interventions and at endline. The purpose of this document is to share the findings of the application of the guidelines and provide an example and guidance for SBC researchers and implementers on how these guidelines can be applied to other case study applications.

Technical report: “Application of the Breakthrough RESEARCH Social and Behavior Change Costing Guidelines to the RISE-II Project in Niger”

Strengthening Social and Behavior Change Measurement in the RISE II Program

In RISE II, the RFSA partners use a variety of SBC approaches, including community mobilization, interpersonal communication through peer group activities, and mass media, to address priority health behaviors. Breakthrough RESEARCH conducted a mapping of family planning (FP); maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH); nutrition; and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) indicators in Niger and Burkina Faso to assess the availability of SBC-related data, including standardized indicators that could inform RISE II partner programs and support the identification and selection of standardized SBC indicators for routine programmatic data collection. We found that current SBC measures related to FP; MNCH; nutrition; and WASH in Niger and Burkina Faso are extremely limited and are mostly concentrated at output-level measures and individual health outcomes.

Programmatic Research Brief:  Strengthening Social and Behavior Change Measurement in the RISE II Program

Informing Integrated Social and Behavior Change Activities Through Social Listening

Breakthrough RESEARCH in collaboration with its resource partner M&C Saatchi is using social listening to understand the types of health information shared through social media in Francophone West Africa. Social listening is the process of tracking conversation content and related metrics for a particular topic, program, or brand on social media. This report summarizes key themes emerging from social listening related to maternal and child health, family planning, nutrition, and water, sanitation and hygiene and to discuss how this information can be used to inform integrated SBC activities in RISE II program countries.

Technical Report:  Using Social Listening to Inform Integrated Social and Behavior Change Programs in Burkina Faso

Considerations and Lessons Learned From Conducting Mixed Methods SBC Research

This brief provides an overview of considerations and lessons learned from conducting in-person mixed methods research in the context of COVID-19. It is intended for global and regional public health program implementers, evaluators, and donors in USAID priority countries. Using an applied example from the RISE II Integrated SBC Evaluation carried out by Breakthrough RESEARCH, the brief provides an overview of the COVID-19 situation in Niger and describes how researchers deliberated on various data collection strategies to conduct a mixed methods evaluation during a global pandemic. The brief then illustrates the steps undertaken to develop and implement a COVID-19 phased risk mitigation approach for in-person data collection and summarizes lessons learned from the experience.

Programmatic Research Brief:  In-person Data Collection During COVID-19: Considerations and lessons learned from conducting mixed methods social and behavior change research in Niger

Evaluation of RISE II Integrated Social and Behavior Change Activities in Niger: Baseline Report

The purpose of this technical report is to present descriptive baseline findings for the quantitative portion of the evaluation. This information will support RISE II Resilience Food Security Activity partners to understand how to tailor planned SBC approaches to address barriers to adopting targeted health behaviors.

Technical Report:  Evaluation of RISE II Integrated Social and Behavior Change Activities in Niger—Baseline Report

Using Audience Segmentation Approaches

This brief presents study results of audience profiles for women of reproductive age in Niger with a focus on three reproductive and maternal health behaviors. It is intended to inform integrated SBC activities implemented by RISE II partners to improve health outcomes. Programmatic Research Brief: Using Audience Segmentation Approaches to Inform Integrated Family Planning and Maternal Health Programs in Niger