Nutrition
Breakthrough ACTION has pioneered and promoted innovative social and behavior change (SBC) practices within nutrition.
The project’s capacity strengthening activities aim to foster SBC knowledge and skills, institutionalize innovative methodologies, and cultivate a cadre of skilled practitioners and supportive decision-makers. Key achievements include applying behavioral science to address challenges of child feeding during and after illness in the DRC; supported community health workers (CHWs) in Nigeria, through a human-centered design approach, to develop easy to use tools that help build trusted connections with caregivers and their families; and segmenting pregnant women and those with children under the age of two years in Mozambique to help focus programmatic interventions to improve dietary diversity. Additionally, the project created three online courses on behavioral science, human-centered design, and segmentation all applied to nutrition in English and French to contribute to global learning. These efforts reflect Breakthrough ACTION’s commitment to advancing SBC practices and enhancing nutrition outcomes through rigorous research and capacity building initiatives.
Focus On
Building Trusted Connections
Breakthrough ACTION and USAID Advancing Nutrition partnered with communities in Nigeria to develop tools to help community health workers (CHWs) practice compassionate nutrition counseling. Using human-centered design, the projects worked with CHWs to develop easy to use tools for building trusted connections between caregivers and families.
The job aid and tools are available in English and French.
Featured Resources
Behavioral Barriers and Solutions for Child Feeding During and After Illness
These brief summarizes results from research on behavioral barriers to child feeding after illness and suggests potential solutions.
Guidance on Social and Behavior Change for Nutrition During COVID-19
This guide includes considerations, messaging, and resources to support the adaption of nutrition SBC programming in response to COVID-19 challenges.
The Spark of Change Radio Soap Opera
This entertainment-education radio soap opera promotes good health and nutrition practices for women and children in Guatemala.
Why we do this work
Applying innovation within SBC focused on nutrition-related behaviors holds great promise. Capacity strengthening activities help institutionalize cutting edge SBC methods while creating a critical mass of skilled SBC practitioners and supportive decision makers.
