The Scope and Practice of Behaviour Change Communication to Improve Infant and Young Child Feeding in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Results of a Practitioner Study in International Development Organizations

Citation

Pelto, Gretel H.; Martin, Stephanie L.; van Liere, Marti J.; & Fabrizio, Cecilia S. (2016). The Scope and Practice of Behaviour Change Communication to Improve Infant and Young Child Feeding in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Results of a Practitioner Study in International Development Organizations. Maternal & Child Nutrition, 12(2), 229-244.

Abstract

We describe features of the landscape of behaviour change communication (BCC) practice devoted to infant and young child feeding (IYCF) in low- and middle-income countries by practitioners in international development organizations. We used an iterative, snowball sampling procedure to identify participants, and the self-administered questionnaire contained pre-coded questions and open-ended questions, relying primarily on content analysis to derive generalizations. Highlights of findings include (i) IYCF-specific BCC is usually delivered within the context of other public health messages and programmes; (ii) technical assistance with programme development and implementation are primary activities, and evaluation-related work is also common; and (iii) formative research and evaluation is universal, but process evaluation is not. With respect to scaling up nutrition: (i) use of mass media and digital technology generally play only a minor role in BCC activities and are not currently an integral part of BCC programming strategies and (ii) only 58% of the participants report activities related to communication with policy makers. The individuals who comprise the community of BCC leaders in the area of IYCF are a diverse group from the perspective of academic backgrounds and nationalities. In addition to nutrition, public health, agriculture and adult learning are common disciplinary backgrounds. In our view, this diversity is a source of strength. It facilitates continuing growth and maturation in the field by assuring inputs of different perspectives, theoretical orientations and experiences.

URL

http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/mcn.12177

Reference Type

Journal Article

Year Published

2016

Journal Title

Maternal & Child Nutrition

Author(s)

Pelto, Gretel H.
Martin, Stephanie L.
van Liere, Marti J.
Fabrizio, Cecilia S.

ORCiD

Martin, S. - 0000-0002-0378-802X