Social and

Behaviour Change
Communication
(SBCC)
 5 Ws and H of Communication
• What: What describes the action/activity
• Who: Who describes the person (s) involved
• Where: Where tells about the place of action/activity
• When: When describes when the action/activity occurred
• Why: Why gives reason(s) for the occurrence and
• How: How describes how the action took place.
 Why Do We Communicate?
• Communication is a tool with which we exercise our influence on
others, bring out changes in our and others’ attitudes, motivate the
people around us and establish and maintain relationships with them.

• Communication makes a major part of our active life and is a social

activity. This social activity is pursued verbally through speech,
reading and writing or non-verbally through body language.
 Barriers to communication and
ways of overcoming them
• Environmental and Physical barriers:
• Time – adopt appropriate fast channels of communication
• Space – maintain the distance in the communication exercise as determined by the
situation
• Place – Avoid overcrowded incommodious and ill-lit, ill- ventilated places to achieve
effective communication
• Medium – Choose the appropriate medium oral / written (sign (audio/visual)
medium.
• Semantic Barriers:
• Words – Choose the correct and precise word depending on context and the
receiver’s felicity in the use of language.
• Cultural Barriers:
• Understand and accept the cultural variations in individuals and groups. Appreciate
them and adopt your communication style to them.
 Barriers to communication
Contd…
• Psychological Barriers:
• Try to understand the receiver’s mental makeup and
attitudes.

• Perception of Reality:
• Try to understand the different levels of perceptions
of a situation and an issue. Be open, flexible and
transparent.
 Forms of communication
• Mass Communication
• Interpersonal Communication
• Organizational Communication

Mass communication is the process of imparting and exchanging

information through mass media to large segments of the population.
 Social and Behavior Change
Communication (SBCC)
• SBCC is the systematic application of interactive, theory-based, and research-driven
communication processes and strategies to stimulate change at:
• Individual
• Community, and
• Societal levels

• Social and behavior change communication programs (SBCC) use communication which is
the most powerful and fundamental human interaction to positively influence these social
dimensions of health and well-being.

• Social and behavior change communication programs (SBCC) use communication which is
the most powerful and fundamental human interaction to positively influence these social
dimensions of health and well-being.
Use of Mass Media Campaigns
to Change Health Behaviour

List the important changes in the pictures ???

 Use of Mass Media Campaigns
to Change Health Behaviour
• Mass media campaigns are widely used to expose high
proportions of large populations to messages through
routine uses of existing media, such as television, radio, and
newspapers.

• The great promise of mass media campaigns lies in their

ability to disseminate well defined behaviourally focused
messages to large audiences repeatedly, over time, in an
incidental manner, and at a low cost per head.
 Direct and Indirect Methods to
Affect Behaviour Change
• Mass media campaigns can work through direct and indirect
pathways to change the behaviour of whole populations

• Anticipated outcomes include the removal or lowering of

obstacles to change, helping people to adopt healthy or
recognise unhealthy social norms, and to associate valued
emotions with achieving change.
 Understanding Mass Media and
Mass Communication Today
• Mass media are the technologies used as channels for a small
group of people to communicate with a larger number of people
in a short time.
• The concept was first addressed during the Progressive Era of
the 1920s, as a response to new opportunities for elites to reach
large audiences via the mass media of the time: newspapers,
radio, and film. Indeed, the three forms of traditional mass
media today are still the same: print (newspapers, books,
magazines), broadcast (television, radio), and cinema (movies
and documentaries).
 Understanding Mass Media and
Mass Communication Today
• Uniformity and anonymity are characteristics which no
longer fit the way people seek out, consume, and
manipulate information into their daily lives. Those new
media are called "alternative media" or "mass self-
communication."
• Today, the internet has changed the media world and
become the most influential means of mass
communication and impacts heavily on the traditional
media forms (channels).
 Processes in Mass
Communication
• 1. Professional communicators create various types of
"messages" for presentation to individuals.
• 2. The messages are disseminated in a "quick and continuous"
manner through some form of mechanical media.
• 3. The messages are received by a vast and diverse audience.
• 4. The audience interprets these messages and gives them
meaning.
• 5. The audience is influenced or changed in some manner.
 The Move to Mass Self-
Communication
Mass Self-Communication means that the content is still created by
the producers, and the distribution is made available to a large number
of people, those who choose to read or consume the information.

•Traditional Mass Media

• Producers create the objects and distribute them (push it)
to consumers

•Pull Technology
• While the content may still be created by (elite) producers,
users are now free to select what they wish to consume.
 Task for Communication Officers
• Mass Communication
• Creating messages for information dissemination to
target audiences using appropriate channels.

• Social Communication
• Dealing with impediments to successful delivery of
messages (Building Trust)
 Issues involved in SBCC in Nigeria
• What – What is happening? (Diseases, etc)
• Who is(are) involved? (Young Persons, Widows, Poor people, 
disadvantaged groups, etc)
• Where is the occurrence?  (Schools, religious organisations,  markets,
communities, etc)
• When is the occurrence ( Religious gatherings, holidays, market
periods, etc)
• Why are the occurrences? (Poverty, Religion, Beliefs, Ignorance, etc)
• How are the occurrences? (Social gatherings, lifestyle, etc)  
 The 10 Commandments of
Communication to Build Trust
• 1. Thou shalt demonstrate genuine care for the other
person
• 2. Thou shalt listen to understand, not to respond
• 3. Thou shalt use open body language
• 4. Thou shalt look for commonalities with the other person
• 5. Thou shalt express empathy/mirror emotions
 The 10 Commandments of
Communication to Build Trust
• 6. Thou shalt be transparent and show vulnerability
• 7. Thou shalt be positive and respectful
• 8. Choose the right time, place, and method to
communicate
• 9. Thou shalt look for opportunities to build up the other
person
• 10. Thou shalt own your words
Thank You All