Communication for Behavioral Impact

Communication for Behavioral Impact
This guide will be useful for designing more effective outbreak response measures. It can be scaled up or down, depending on the situation. It can be applied at sub-national and national levels and was designed for developmental communication and health promotion personnel working in multidisciplinary teams to investigate and respond to disease outbreaks.

Communication for Behavioral Impact (COMBI)

UNICEF: Ebola Virus – How to Prevent it from Spreading

unicef3

This poster lists and illustrates five ways to keep Ebola from spreading:

  • Avoid physical contact with people showing symptoms of the disease
  • Wash hands regularly with soap and clean water
  • Do not shake hands with people showing symptoms of the disease
  • Keep away from bats, monkeys, baboons, and dead animals
  • Avoid eating bush meat, and cook all food very well

Government of Liberia: Spread the Word, Not the Disease Poster

unicef2 The poster has information about how the virus is transmitted from animals to humans. The audience is Liberian communities where introduction of the virus from bushmeat is a primary danger. The poster is clear, bright, and understandable.

Original Poster

UNICEF: Guidelines for Training Community Volunteers for Social Mobilization

guide1This is a guideline for training community volunteers to educate communities about the Ebola outbreak and to mobilize them to prevent and control the outbreak in their communities. The guidelines outline the key messages that community volunteers should be trained on to be able to effectively educate and mobilize communities about Ebola.

The objective of these guidelines is to train community volunteers to increase community and family knowledge on the transmission and behavior change to prevent Ebola. Included is basic information about Ebola, communication skills training for community volunteers, and explanations of the five stages of behavior change and the five stages of grief.

UNICEF: Facts about Ebola

factsaboutebolaProduced by UNICEF for  Uganda, this poster provides information on recognizing signs and symptoms, transmission as well as information on prevention.

UNICEF: Facts on Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever

Ebola_Brochure-Liberiahttp://www.unicef.org/cbsc/files/Ebola_Brochure-Liberia-EN.pdf

This pamphlet explains what Ebola is, how it is spread, its signs and symptoms, and how it can be prevented. It directs information to community members as well as to health workers.

Reported Cases & Percentage of Households with Radios

reportedcasesradios10_13Reported Ebola Cases & Percentage of Households with Radios, as of October 13, 2014  (Full Size JPG)

 

Lancet Editorial – Ebola: The Missing Link

lancetThis editorial that appeared in the Lancet Sept. 18, 2014 points out that trust is the “missing link” that could help stem the Ebola epidemic.

WHO: Investigating Cause of Death During an Outbreak of Ebola

WHO-GHS-Investigating-cause-of-death World Health Organization report presenting a draft verbal autopsy instrument based on best judgement and previous experience in a variety of settings including outbreaks and research.   It is part of a wider effort by the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) to develop tools for testing in advance of outbreak situations.  The report also contains information on how to carry out a validation study, which compares the results of a verbal autopsy questionnaire with the results of a “gold standard” – such as laboratory test or clinical diagnosis.  To date, there is no standard, verbal autopsy instrument for use during outbreaks of Ebola virus haemorrhagic fever (EHF).

CDC Ebola Website

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) website for Ebola information.