Evidence Base for Service Communication

SBCC program evaluations have demonstrated how SBCC contributes to improved health outcomes among populations seeking services, including reductions in HIV incidence and increasing contraceptive prevalence rate. It is not always possible, however, to attribute health impact entirely to an individual program or to SBCC alone. This is especially the case if the barriers to behavior change are tied to barriers that communication cannot address on its own (such as poor or restrictive policies, lack of services or limited commodities). As a result, many SBCC programs measure short-term, intermediate results, such as increased knowledge, decreased stigma, increased self-efficacy and increased intention to seek services. There is a growing body of evidence from program evaluations that have demonstrated SBCC’s role, specifically with attempts to identify positive correlation between exposure to SBCC and reported changes in intermediate results across a range of health areas, including family planning, HIV prevention, malaria, and maternal and child health. The following are some successful examples of SBCC’s impact in improving access to health services