The Communication Initiative
Development action with informed and engaged societies
The Communication Initiative
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.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
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Educational intervention on breastfeeding promotion to the Family Health Program team

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Caldeira, A. P., G. C. Fagundes, et al. (2008). "Educational intervention on breastfeeding promotion to the Family Health Program team." Intervenção educacional em equipes do Programa de Saúde da Família para promoção da amamentação 42(6): 1027-1033.

Objective: Breastfeeding Friendly Primary Care Initiative comprises educational activities focused on primary care units. The To evaluate the effectiveness of a strategy on breastfeeding promotion to the Family Health Program team.

Methods: A controlled intervention study was performed with 20 family health care teams randomly selected into intervention and control group in Montes Claros, Southeastern Brazil, in 2006. The teams randomly selected into intervention and control group, and the intervention group took part in a 24-hour training program on breastfeeding promotion for health providers, modeled on the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative. It was emphasized health provider's support for breastfeeding and management of major lactation problems. The control group received routine breastfeeding training. Mothers of all children under two cared by the teams were interviewed at home before (n=1,423) and 12 months after the intervention (n=1,491) and answered questions about breastfeeding practices. Survival curves of breastfeeding were plotted and compared for both time points studied using the log rank test.

Results: There was a significant increase in exclusive breastfeeding after the educational activities for the Family Health Program teams. Survival curves of exclusive breastfeeding at the first time point studied showed no statistical significance difference between the groups by log rank test (p=0.502). After the intervention, survival curves of exclusive breastfeeding were significantly different by the log rank test (p=0.001).

Conclusion: The training of Family Health Program teams as proposed by the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative proved to be an effective, low-cost strategy for raising awareness among health providers, providing consistent information, and assuring the required support to mothers with breastfeeding issues.