U Afya: Can mobile technology successfully drive real-life behaviour change?
Summary:
We know the power of mobile phones in reaching people in low-income contexts. But traditionally, mobile-based interventions have been used only to reach people: either by pushing messaging to users or extracting data from them. These interventions are built around either basic SMS, WhatsApp or new smartphone apps which many in the communities we serve do not have the technographic access, the digital literacy or the data budget to utilise effectively. The power of mobile can go beyond simply reaching people, it has the power to build engaging digital communities to start a conversation that enables people to change their own lives, using the basic mobile phones they have in their hands. Based on this, Every1Mobile built an online community for young mothers in low-income communities in Nairobi, that drives real-life behaviour change through innovative digital engagement. U Afya (Afya means health in Kiswahili) is an ongoing behaviour change project designed to catalyze transformational change by taking an innovative and holistic SBCC approach to give mothers the knowledge and confidence they need to enact certain healthy behaviours in relation to health, hygiene and family life. In this session, we will share the lessons learned, successes and challenges that can be used to help expand the boundaries and effectiveness of SBCC approaches.
Background/Objectives:
U Afya is a digital community where young mothers can connect, share and learn about nutrition and hygiene best practices, to drive knowledge, attitude and behaviour change. It is accessible through basic feature phones, and therefore offers an opportunity to test new and engaging ways to demonstrate how real-life behaviour change can be driven through the basic mobile phones that low-income communities already have in their hands. Attendees will understand the value of building engaging mobile communities and how an HCD process can inform and drive digital behaviour change strategy and programming.
Description of Intervention and/or Methods/Design:
Every1Mobile applied a human-centred design process to develop and implement the U Afya programme. This design approach ensures that we listen to the people we are designing for and to recognise that they are experts of the challenges and motivations in their own lives. We identified the barriers, triggers and motivators to certain healthy behaviours, that informed the design of a comprehensive set of SBCC approaches and digital tools. With rapid piloting and iterative content design using WhatsApp, we managed to test our SBCC approach with a small group of our target audience before we invested in the full-scale implementation of the programme. At the end of our design process we developed the U Afya theory of change and integrated solution package which we will share during this session.
Results/Lessons Learned:
We have over 3,400 young mothers registered to U Afya. A baseline survey was conducted, measuring KAP in relation to 4 key health behaviours. Overall levels of knowledge about handwashing with soap, hygiene in the home, and nutrition leave room for improvement. There was a lack of knowledge about when women are most likely to get pregnant during their menstrual cycle - a particular area where U Afya provides not only education but also a safe space for users to ask questions that might be uncomfortable or taboo to talk about with their family or peers. The frequency of when health and hygiene practices were undertaken varied significantly meaning greater scope for influencing the uptake of healthy behaviours. The survey will be repeated in early 2020, and the Summit will provide an ideal opportunity to present the latest evidence on how U Afya is shifting knowledge, attitude and practice.
Discussion/Implications for the Field:
The next phase of the programme will be finalising the endline report on healthy behaviour shifts and measuring the effectiveness of the SBCC approaches and digital interventions. Results including what worked, what didn't work and actions we will implement going forward will be shared during the session. Lessons learned from our holistic SBCC approach, HCD design process and results from two years, will provide a robust evidence-based case study which we hope can spark a participatory dialogue across various development sectors to improve our methodology and in turn, share successes that may improve SBCC approaches applied in other fields.
Abstract submitted by:
Abi Gleek - Every1Mobile (E1M)
Kat Piets - Every1Mobile (E1M)
Yolandi Janse Van Rensburg - Every1Mobile (E1M)
We know the power of mobile phones in reaching people in low-income contexts. But traditionally, mobile-based interventions have been used only to reach people: either by pushing messaging to users or extracting data from them. These interventions are built around either basic SMS, WhatsApp or new smartphone apps which many in the communities we serve do not have the technographic access, the digital literacy or the data budget to utilise effectively. The power of mobile can go beyond simply reaching people, it has the power to build engaging digital communities to start a conversation that enables people to change their own lives, using the basic mobile phones they have in their hands. Based on this, Every1Mobile built an online community for young mothers in low-income communities in Nairobi, that drives real-life behaviour change through innovative digital engagement. U Afya (Afya means health in Kiswahili) is an ongoing behaviour change project designed to catalyze transformational change by taking an innovative and holistic SBCC approach to give mothers the knowledge and confidence they need to enact certain healthy behaviours in relation to health, hygiene and family life. In this session, we will share the lessons learned, successes and challenges that can be used to help expand the boundaries and effectiveness of SBCC approaches.
Background/Objectives:
U Afya is a digital community where young mothers can connect, share and learn about nutrition and hygiene best practices, to drive knowledge, attitude and behaviour change. It is accessible through basic feature phones, and therefore offers an opportunity to test new and engaging ways to demonstrate how real-life behaviour change can be driven through the basic mobile phones that low-income communities already have in their hands. Attendees will understand the value of building engaging mobile communities and how an HCD process can inform and drive digital behaviour change strategy and programming.
Description of Intervention and/or Methods/Design:
Every1Mobile applied a human-centred design process to develop and implement the U Afya programme. This design approach ensures that we listen to the people we are designing for and to recognise that they are experts of the challenges and motivations in their own lives. We identified the barriers, triggers and motivators to certain healthy behaviours, that informed the design of a comprehensive set of SBCC approaches and digital tools. With rapid piloting and iterative content design using WhatsApp, we managed to test our SBCC approach with a small group of our target audience before we invested in the full-scale implementation of the programme. At the end of our design process we developed the U Afya theory of change and integrated solution package which we will share during this session.
Results/Lessons Learned:
We have over 3,400 young mothers registered to U Afya. A baseline survey was conducted, measuring KAP in relation to 4 key health behaviours. Overall levels of knowledge about handwashing with soap, hygiene in the home, and nutrition leave room for improvement. There was a lack of knowledge about when women are most likely to get pregnant during their menstrual cycle - a particular area where U Afya provides not only education but also a safe space for users to ask questions that might be uncomfortable or taboo to talk about with their family or peers. The frequency of when health and hygiene practices were undertaken varied significantly meaning greater scope for influencing the uptake of healthy behaviours. The survey will be repeated in early 2020, and the Summit will provide an ideal opportunity to present the latest evidence on how U Afya is shifting knowledge, attitude and practice.
Discussion/Implications for the Field:
The next phase of the programme will be finalising the endline report on healthy behaviour shifts and measuring the effectiveness of the SBCC approaches and digital interventions. Results including what worked, what didn't work and actions we will implement going forward will be shared during the session. Lessons learned from our holistic SBCC approach, HCD design process and results from two years, will provide a robust evidence-based case study which we hope can spark a participatory dialogue across various development sectors to improve our methodology and in turn, share successes that may improve SBCC approaches applied in other fields.
Abstract submitted by:
Abi Gleek - Every1Mobile (E1M)
Kat Piets - Every1Mobile (E1M)
Yolandi Janse Van Rensburg - Every1Mobile (E1M)
Source
Approved abstract for the postponed 2020 SBCC Summit in Marrakech, Morocco. Provided by the International Steering Committee for the Summit. Image credit: Every1Mobile (E1M)