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After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. 

Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future. 

On the transfer, co-founder Victoria Martin expressed her pleasure to see this work continue under Wits' leadership, knowing that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction. 

As Wits, we honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades and look forward building from that strong base. This includes co-founders Warren Feek (1953-2024) and Victoria Martin as well as La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA), which continues independently at lainiciativadecomunicacion.com with links to The CI Global site. We are also eager to forge new partnerships and entertain new ideas as we consider how best to contribute to social and behaviour change in our rapidly evolving environment.

If you are joining the International Social and Behaviour Change Communication (SBCC) Summit in Panama, please join Wits and CILA on Monday, 22 June, to share your thoughts and suggestion for the relaunch of the Communication Initiative. We will be in Pacifica 5 from 12-1:25 for the Refuel, Reflect, and Renew Lunch Series: The Communication Initiative: celebrating a driving force for Communication for Social Change and the way forward. We will reflect on the legacy of Warren Feek and family in creating the Communication Initiative, consider the contributions of CI over the years and then turn our attention towards the future in this dynamic session. 

If you are unable to join us in Panama, we still want to hear from you. Please contribute your thoughts by following this link: https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026 or reaching out to ci_surveys@commint.com. 

You can also follow the QR Code:

 https://redcap.link/CommunicationInitiative2026

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Evidence-based training of frontline health workers for door-to-door health promotion: a pilot randomized controlled cluster trial with Lady Health Workers in Sindh Province, Pakistan

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Omer, K., S. Mhatre, et al. (2008) Evidence-based training of frontline health workers for door-to-door health promotion: a pilot randomized controlled cluster trial with Lady Health Workers in Sindh Province, Pakistan. Patient education and counseling 178-185 DOI: 10.1016/j.pec.2008.02.018

OBJECTIVE: Demonstrate the effective use of community-based evidence for health promotion by Lady Health Workers (LHWs) in Sindh, Pakistan.

METHODS: A baseline study on mothers and children provided local evidence for risk communication tools designed and tested by LHWs. The communities were randomized to intervention and control. LHWs visited women before and after childbirth to discuss safe practices in pregnancy, in the intervention group LHW using the new tools and in the control group using their standard procedures. A household survey and focus groups permitted assessment of the impact of the intervention.

RESULTS: Women in the intervention communities were more likely to attend prenatal checkups, to stop routine heavy work during pregnancy, to give colostrum to newborn babies, and to maintain exclusive breastfeeding for four months. Community focus groups confirmed a positive reaction to the tools.

CONCLUSION: Discussion by lay health workers of local evidence underlying safe motherhood messages improved uptake of protective health practices.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Door-to-door health promotion based on culturally appropriate interaction around relevant evidence can have a positive impact on health practices. Engaging health workers from the onset builds capacities, improves dialogue within the health system and performance of frontline health workers.