Provider behavior defines a range of actions that include, but are not limited to facility management, adherence to clinical protocols, supervision, and client-provider interaction, that are the outcome of a complex set of factors both internal (for example, attitudes, values, and beliefs) and external (for example, supervisor support, access to professional development, and supportive workplace environment) to the provider.
Understanding what drives providers’ behaviors and how they impact client-level outcomes is key to improving health services. Providers’ behaviors can significantly influence patients’ experiences of the service and their likelihood to adhere to treatment or recommendations, and potentially alter patients’ likelihood to re-engage with health services for improved health outcomes.
An SBC approach within provider behavior change (PBC) to improve quality of care addresses behavioral antecedents of provider behavior and has the potential to result in multiple impacts at individual, community, and system levels.
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
Provider Behavior Change and SBC Approaches to Quality of Care in Family Planning
31 Jan 2023
Materials related to the webinar
- Legacy resource document—Provider behavior change: Social and behavior change approaches to quality of care in family planning (English and French)
- Slide deck
- Webinar recording (English and French)
- Mentimeter results and Q&A
Learn More
Foundations for Provider Behavior Change
- Research and Learning Agenda: Advancing Provider Behavior Change Programming
- Literature Review: Evidence Review and Analysis of Provider Behavior Change Opportunities
- Synthesis: Behavioral tactics to support providers in offering quality care: Insights from provider behavior change research and practice
Provider Behavior Change Measurement
- Technical Reference Sheet: Using the Provider Authoritarian Attitude Scale
- Brief: How to Measure Provider Behavior Change Impact (English or French)
- Learning Course: How to Measure Provider Behavior Change Impact (English or French)
Provider Behavior Change for Family Planning
- Landscape Review: Provider Behavior Change Approaches to Improve Family Planning Services in the Ouagadougou Partnership Countries: A Landscaping Review
- Research Spotlight: The Beyond Bias Project: Building Evidence to Inform Practice for Provider Behavior Change Programming
Supporting Providers in Advancing Postpartum Hemorrhage Care (APPHC)
Nearly one-quarter of all maternal deaths are associated with postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) globally. PPH remains the leading cause of maternal death in most low-income countries, requiring additional research on prevention and treatment options. In response to this challenge, USAID has complemented its longstanding efforts to accelerate reductions in maternal deaths with a one-time catalytic investment in Malawi and Madagascar called Advancing Postpartum Hemorrhage Care (APPHC).
The objective of the APPHC investment is to generate and test solutions that address key barriers to PPH prevention, detection, and treatment. USAID invested in both the Breakthrough RESEARCH and the Health Evaluation and Applied Research Development (HEARD) Projects implemented by Population Council and University Research Co., LLC, respectively.
- Brief: Barriers Inhibiting Detection and Management of Postpartum Hemorrhage by Providers in Madagascar Brief (English or French)
- BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth Manuscript: Barriers inhibiting effective detection and management of postpartum hemorrhage during facility-based births in Madagascar: findings from a qualitative study using a behavioral science lens
- Blog: Simple Tools to Reduce Preventable Deaths During Childbirth
- Case Study: Bottlenecks and opportunities around the use of maternity waiting homes in Malawi
- Case Study: Chipatala cha pa Foni, Malawi’s “Health Center by Phone,” improving information given about pregnancy-related symptoms
- Case Study: Perceptions and use of non-pneumatic anti-shock garments for management of postpartum hemorrhage in Malawi
- Brochure: How birth companions can support providers during labour and delivery
- Poster: A companion of choice is recommended for all women throughout labour, childbirth, and the immediate postnatal period (English or Chichewa)
Understanding the Health Care Experiences of Newborns and Young Children and the Role of Providers
Understanding the health care experiences of young children (0–24 months) is critical to promoting positive health and developmental outcomes, yet few efforts have defined or measured the experience of facility-based care of this age group in low- and middle-income country settings. Although young children are unable to voice their own experiences, we can study their experiences by collecting responses from parents of hospitalized newborns, infants, and young children. It is also critical to understand the role of health providers, including their communication and behaviors with parents and families caring for hospitalized young children.
- Brief: Understanding Provider and Parent Experiences in Caring for Hospitalized Young Children: Summary findings from a formative study in Kenya
- Slide deck: Structural and behavior change interventions to improve experience of care for sick very young children (0 to 24 months of age) and their parents in hospital settings in Kenya Preliminary Results: Baseline Provider Survey
- PLOS ONE Manuscript: Manifestations, responses, and consequences of mistreatment of sick newborns and young infants and their parents in health facilities in Kenya
- Job aid/tool: Communication During Hospitalization
- Job aid/tool: Parent’s Emotional Wellness: Reduce Distress, Emotional Support, and Partnership (DEP) Guide for Supporting Parents During a Young Child’s Illness
- Job aid/tool: Providers’ Emotional Wellness: A, B, Cs of provider self-care when working with sick children and their families
Cross-cutting Provider Behavior Change
- Brief: Expressions of Power in Health Care Providers’ Experiences and Behavior
- Research Spotlight: Surgo Venture’s CUBES Framework: Understanding Drivers of Behavior to Develop a Tailored Approach to Social and Behavior Change
- Global Public Health manuscript: Behavioural barriers and perceived trade-offs to care-seeking for tuberculosis in the Philippines
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.
