Transcript Guidance on communication with respect to safe drinking

Guidance on
communication with
respect to safe
drinking water and
household hygiene
World Health
Organisation
Alison Parker
Cranfield University
All photographs ©James Webster
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Aims of guidance
• WHO can influence policy and programme
decision makers
• Powerpoint accompanies guidance documents
• Aims:
– To develop a commitment to protect public health
– To support the health sector in effectively
addressing water-related disease burden
– To assist non-health sectors in understanding and
acting on the health impacts of their actions
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WHAT IS COMMUNICATION?
• The exchange of information– conveying AND
receiving
• In a way that ensures other people
understand the information shared
• And so that the information received
influences the receiver’s attitudes and / or
behaviour
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COMMUNICATION – THE BASICS
• Why? - what, ideally, do you want to achieve
(Objectives)
• Who? – who do you want to reach (audiences)
• What? – what do you want to ‘say’ (Messages)
• When? – what’s the timescale or deadline
• How? –the best ways of getting to the
message to the audience
• And… Resources. Staff, budget, time.
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WHAT THIS PRESENTATION COVERS
• This presentation outlines a systematic
rationale and process for developing effective
communication strategies for safe drinking
water and household hygiene.
• We have developed an easy-to-follow five step
process. This is intended to guide policy
makers to develop a successful
communication program.
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WHY THIS PRESENTATION IS
IMPORTANT
• Global importance of the water and hygiene related
diseases
• Routes of disease transmission are known
• A number of communication and behaviour change
strategies have been developed that are effective in
reducing water and hygiene related disease:
– Improving water quantity and quality reduces
disease
– Handwashing has health benefits: Diarrhoea and
Respiratory disease
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THE SCALE OF THE PROBLEM
• 884 million people lack access to safe water; 2.5 billion lack
basic sanitation and nearly 1.2 billion practise open defecation.
• At any one time, half of all hospital beds in developing countries
are filled with people suffering from water-related diseases.
• Almost one tenth of the global disease burden could be
prevented by improving water supply, sanitation, hygiene and
management of water resources
• Improved sanitation could prevent 1·5 million deaths from
diarrhoeal illnesses a YEAR - 1.4 million of which are preventable
child deaths
• Every dollar spent on sanitation generates economic benefits
worth between $3 and $34.
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WHAT WE ARE TRYING TO ACHIEVE
That targeted groups of people:
• understand the cause of water and hygiene
related illness
• recognise the illness has implications for them,
the household and the community
• believe that they can do something to prevent
water and hygiene related disease and
• act to improve water quality and household
hygiene
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BEST PRACTICES - WHAT WE KNOW
We can change attitudes and behaviour if we:
• Understand our audience,
• Use language they understand
• Use effective tools to help communicate the
message (TV, health workers)
• Communicate in a way audiences can relate to
through their own experiences
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HOW TO DESIGN A COMMUNICATION
STRATEGY: A 5-Step Process
Step 1 – Evidence Based Design: Analysis
• Identify and use information that can provide a clear
picture of the problem
• Identify and understand the health problem
• Identify the behavior(s) that needs to occur to improve
the health problem
• Identify motivations and barriers to address desired
changes by the communication strategy
• Carry out or commission research to learn about target
audiences
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HOW: 5-Step Process
Step 2 - Design of the Communication Strategy
• Determine the audience(s)
• Define desired behavior changes and outcomes
through SMART objectives
• Select the “key factors” (behavior change model) for
message design
• Determine the communication approaches, mix of
communication channels and community mobilization
processes
• Develop a creative brief
• Draw up an implementation plan
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• Develop a monitoring and evaluation plan
HOW: 5-Step Process
Step 3 - Development and Testing Communication
Products and Messages
• Develop materials
• Test concepts, messages and materials with
stakeholders and with the intended audiences
• Revise and if needed, retest
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HOW: 5-Step Process
Step 4 - Implementation & Monitoring
• Launch the communication program
• Mobilize key participants and stakeholders
• Manage and monitor the communication plan
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HOW: 5-Step Process
Step 5 - Evaluation & Replanning
• Measure outcomes and assess impact
• Disseminate results and plan for next stage of the
communication program
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UNDER WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES
• The context may change, but the process should
remain the same
• Need context specific information / best practices for
each context – what does the evidence tell us re:
communications in these contexts
• This 5-step process can be applied to different
situations in developed and developing countries:
– Long term chronic and
– Shorter term emergency risks
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Long term chronic risks
• Those relating to chronic or long-term
problems of water supply, water quality, poor
hygiene or inadequate sanitation
• Examples of these situations include:
– Groundwater chemistry that is harmful to health (e.g.
arsenic and fluoride)
– Poor hygiene behaviours
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Shorter term emergency risks
• Those relating to outbreaks of disease,
associated with sudden changes in water
quality delivered to consumers
• Examples include:
– Waterborne Disease Outbreak (e.g. E.coli, Giardia
and Cryptosporidium)
– Refugee situations
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Conclusions
Communication is a key part of promoting safe
water and household hygiene
For best results:
• Think strategically.
• Keep it simple.
• Know your audience.
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