CHANGING INDIVIDUAL AND

COMMUNITY BEHAVIOUR
Flood Mitigation
Sherlene Neal Tablada, PAHO Behaviour Change
Communication Consultant
PRESENTATION OUTLINE

 Individual and community behaviours can help to mitigate

floods or increase risk
 COMBI as a model for supporting individual and community
behaviour change ( COMBI)
 COMBI and flood mitigation
 Local Examples of COMBI being used to address Vector Borne
diseases in Belize
WHY FOCUS ON HUMAN
BEHAVIOUR
 Disasters caused by floods have huge economic and social costs
 Often National and Local Government have strong focus on macro
planning and policies
 Allows individuals and communities to become effective partners
 Individuals and communities are affected and can support actions
to mitigate floods
 Understanding individual and community behaviours help us to
find effective ways to work with individuals and communities to
mitigate and prevent disasters
 Effective models are available to us and local capacity exists in
behaviour change communication
INDIVIDUAL AND COMMUNITY
LEVEL BEHAVIOURS
 Flooding affects every citizen of Belize in one way or the other
 Often individuals and communities are not able to see how their
behaviours contribute to disasters resulting from floods
 Urban Development ( land clearing for construction etc.)
 Clearing of Mangroves
 Poorly kept drains and waterways
 Construction of homes in flood prone areas
 Overall human actions leading to climate change
 COMBI: Communication for
Behavioural Impact

Is a planning* process for any

communication or social
mobilization action or activity.

Source: Parks W & Lloyd LS (2004). Planning social mobilization and communication for dengue fever
prevention and control. A Step-by-Step Guide. WHO/ TDR/ PAHO. Available in English and Spanish.
http://www.who.int/tdr/publications/documents/planning_dengue.pdf?ua=1
http://www.who.int/tdr/publications/documents/planificacion_dengue.pdf

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 NEED FOR NEW APPROACH

 Currently have good examples of communication programs leading

to increased knowledge and awareness, but not to sustained
changes in behavior.

 Behaviour change is a process, not an event, therefore we

cannot assume behaviour has changed just because knowledge
levels have improved.

 It is critical to focus on and measure behavior change.

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WHAT DO WE NEED FOR A SUCCESSFUL
COMMUNICATION INTERVENTION?
To better understand:
 why the population does or does not take certain actions

 which actions are most effective in order to achieve the desired

behavioural impact

 the value the target audience gives to those actions

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WHAT DO WE NEED FOR A SUCCESSFUL
COMMUNICATION INTERVENTION?

 the behavioural environment – the social, cultural, political,

ecological, legal and spiritual factors that hinder or facilitate the
adoption of the behaviours and the “cost”* these factors represent

* “cost” includes monetary, physical, time, cultural, and psychological

factors

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THE 3 COMBI PRINCIPLES

1. Identify key, specific behavioural objectives that are

directly related to the dengue and malaria prevention and
control program objectives.

2. Conduct a situational analysis to define the behavioural and

communication objectives.

3. Prepare a written strategic communications plan.

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 COMBI PLANNING PROCESS

STEPS 1, 2 STEP 3 STEPS 4, 5

ASSEMBLE TEAM IDENTIFY BEHAVIOURAL FORMATIVE RESEARCH +
ESTABLISH OBJECTIVES AND DETERMINE BEHAVIOUR TESTING
THEIR VIABILITY
SYSTEMIZATION FEEDBACK
METHODOLOGY FOR
STEPS 6, 7
PROCESSING AND
SHARING INFORMATION PRE-TEST
STEPS 1 to 5 take ~ 80% of your time MESSAGES AND
MATERIALS

y
ESTABLISH
MONITORING
AND
EVALUATION
STEP 10 STEPS 8, 9 SYSTEMS
IMPLEMENT THE PLAN AND STRENGTHEN STAFF SKILLS
MAKE NECESSARY
PREPARE COMMUNICATIONS
ADJUSTMENTS BASED ON
PLAN
MONITORING DATA

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COMBI IN ACTION

 PAHO has been using COMBI to effectively address vector borne

diseases, nutrition, maternal and child health and a number of
other issues
 PAHO currently supporting the MOH in 6 districts to implement
COMBI plans to eliminate Malaria and to control the spread of
Dengue
 Over 40 MOH staff have been trained in COMBI
 6 District COMBI plans developed
 Multi-disciplinary health teams formed to implement and
monitor the plans
COMBI IN BELIZE CITY

 Section of Lake Independence is the target for Belize City’s

health team
 Already links can be made between flood mitigation and vector
control activities for Dengue
 Assessment of the area found poorly kept drains, while waste,
improper garbage disposal
 These are breeding sites for mosquitoes BUT also contribute to
flooding and disasters linked to flooding
 Health team in Belize City has established partnership with the
City Council to address these issues