Using social norms theory for health promotion in low-income countries

Cislaghi, Beniamino; Heise, Lori

doi:10.1093/heapro/day017

Cited by 178 publications

(162 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Researchers interested in behavioural change are increasingly focusing on how individuals' views and attitudes depend on their social ecology. In the health field, individual-based health theories are being enriched by ecological models of health behaviour that consider the complex layers of reciprocal influences between individuals and their environment (Cislaghi and Heise 2018). One of the most powerful and all-encompassing environmental influences is the social network in which the person is embedded (Shell-Duncan et al 2011).…”

Section: Social Norms and Social Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

FGM/C decision-making process and the role of gender power relations in Sudan

Eldin¹,

Babiker²,

Sabahelzain³

et al. 2018

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The Population Council confronts critical health and development issues-from stopping the spread of HIV to improving reproductive health and ensuring that young people lead full and productive lives. Through biomedical, social science, and public health research in 50 countries, we work with our partners to deliver solutions that lead to more effective policies, programmes, and technologies that improve lives around the world. Established in 1952 and headquartered in New York, the Council is a nongovernmental, nonprofit organisation governed by an international board of trustees. www.popcouncil.orgThe Gender and Reproductive Rights Resource and Advocacy Centre (GRACe) is a leading regional center of excellence on gender and reproductive health and rights; Providing quality resources for all stakeholders, building capacities, promoting evidence-based planning and policy for empowering women and men and promoting reproductive health as a fundamental human right for all. GRACe values are gender equality, women empowerment, integrity, respect for human rights and excellence. It aims to promote gender equality and reproductive health and rights of the community in general and of women in Sudan and the region.

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Section: Social Norms and Social Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

FGM/C decision-making process and the role of gender power relations in Sudan

Eldin¹,

Babiker²,

Sabahelzain³

et al. 2018

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“…There is general consensus that measurement of collective readiness to change constructs are in their infancy [37]. In particular, there are no generally accepted methodologies to measure changes in social norms because they tend to be intangible and therefore difficult to measure.…”

Section: Changes To Social Norms Relevant To Fgmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transforming social norms to end FGM in the EU: an evaluation of the REPLACE Approach

et al. 2020

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Background: Despite numerous campaigns and interventions to end female genital mutilation (FGM), the practice persists across the world, including the European Union (EU). Previous interventions have focused mainly on awareness raising and legislation aimed at criminalizing the practice. Limited evidence exists on the effectiveness of interventions due in part to the lack of systematic evaluation of projects. This paper presents an evaluation of the REPLACE Approach, which is a new methodology for tackling FGM based on community-based behaviour change and intervention evaluation. Methods: We developed, trialed and evaluated the REPLACE Approach through extensive engagement with eight FGM affected African diaspora communities in five EU countries. We employed qualitative and quantitative tools to obtain data to inform the development, implementation and evaluation of the Approach. These included communitybased participatory action research, questionnaires and community readiness assessments. The research took place between 2010 and 2016. Results: Findings suggested that the Approach has the capability for building the capacities of FGM affected communities to overturn social norms that perpetuate the practice. We observed that community-based action research is a useful methodology for collecting data in FGM intervention settings as it allows for effective community engagement to identify, educate and motivate influential community members to challenge the practice, as well as obtaining useful information on the beliefs and norms that shape the practice. We also found that community readiness assessments, pre and post intervention, were useful for tailoring interventions appropriately and for evaluating changes in attitudes and behaviour that may have resulted from the interventions.Conclusion: This evaluation has demonstrated that the REPLACE Approach has the potential, over time, to bring about changes in norms and attitudes associated with FGM. Its strengths lay in the engagement with influential community members, in building the capacity and motivation of community members to undertake change, in recognising contextual differences in the barriers and enablers of FGM practice and in tailoring interventions to local community readiness to change, and then evaluating interventions to re-inform implementation. The next steps would therefore be to implement the Approach over a longer time frame to assess if it results in measurable change in behaviour.

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“…Box 2 summarises guiding principles for social norms programmes, based on evidence from diverse sources that have been useful in our experience. 1,[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] Box 2. Guiding principles gathered from a selection of social norms programmes…”

Section: Stepping Stonesmentioning

confidence: 99%

On the CUSP: the politics and prospects of scaling social norms change programming

Goldmann¹,

Lundgren

Welbourn³

et al. 2019

Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters

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In the past decades, donors and development actors have been increasingly mindful of the evidence to support long-term, dynamic social norms change. This paper draws lessons and implications on scaling social norms change initiatives for gender equality to prevent violence against women and girls (VAWG) and improve sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), from the Community for Understanding Scale Up (CUSP). CUSP is a group of nine organisations working across four regions with robust experience in developing evidence-based social norms change methodologies and supporting their scale-up across various regions and contexts. More specifically, the paper elicits learning from methodologies and experiences from five CUSP members-GREAT, IMAGE, SASA!, Stepping Stones, and Tostan. The discussion raises political questions around the current donor landscape including those positioned to assume leadership to take such methodologies to scale, and the current evaluation paradigm to measure social norms change at scale. CUSP makes the following recommendations for donors and implementers to scale social norms initiatives effectively and ethically: invest in longer-term programming, ensure fidelity to values of the original programmes, fund women's rights organisations, prioritise accountability to their communities and demands, critically examine the government and marketplace's role in scale, and rethink evaluation approaches to produce evidence that guides scale-up processes and fully represents the voices of activists and communities from the Global South.

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Using social norms theory for health promotion in low-income countries

Cited by 178 publications

References 48 publications

FGM/C decision-making process and the role of gender power relations in Sudan

FGM/C decision-making process and the role of gender power relations in Sudan

Transforming social norms to end FGM in the EU: an evaluation of the REPLACE Approach

On the CUSP: the politics and prospects of scaling social norms change programming

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