Posted by To influence how the populace thinks and behaves, Adamawa State has created a draft strategy for social behavior transformation.
Experts developed the strategic plan over the course of four days of brainstorming sessions in Yola, the state capital.
The experts discussed myths, inhibitions, and misconceptions that influence social behaviors, particularly how such behaviors affect acceptance of health care. They were selected from participants in civil society, the media, and the health sectors.
The revised strategy subsequently tackles administrative policy gaps for desired social behavior change (SBC), which were primarily caused by the lack of a working document to guarantee the best possible service delivery and compliance.
The Challenge Initiative (TCI), which conducted the four-day workshop, introduced a seven-member Technical Working Group (TWG) to oversee the successful implementation of the revised social behavior change draft.
The draft discusses, among other topics, beliefs and attitudes towards family planning, diet, immunization, HIV/AIDS, health promotion, adolescence, and young people’s sexual and reproductive health.
The workshop’s organizers claimed that it succeeded in identifying the state’s SBC programming gaps, creating a strategy document for SBC intervention, and offering suggestions for how to use the document to ensure that people’s behaviors were changed for the better.
Stakeholders agreed on the objective of enabling Adamawa residents to adopt good habits that will enhance their health and wellbeing.
An specialist in social behavioral change communication from TCI, Dr. Olukoya Omotosho, commented on the development and asked the TWG members to make sure that the draft plan is firmly entrenched.
“We held SBC strategy development workshops for four days, and we came up with a draft strategy,” he stated. I anticipate that the leadership will oversee all SBC programs in the state, including those pertaining to HIV, malaria, family planning, immunization, nutrition, and all other SBC-related health concerns. We should be able to observe improvements over the coming few months.
Rashida Tahir, the director of community health services at the Adamawa State Primary HealthCare Development Agency, gave the technical working group members the responsibility of ensuring the success of the new social behavioral change draft strategy in her own remarks.