On Thursday, January 26 at 8:30 AM EST, log on to: https://connect.johnshopkins.edu/emergency-sbcc/

Recent health emergencies such as Ebola Virus Disease, Zika and yellow fever illustrate that successful public health emergency programs include social and behavior change communication (SBCC). The SBCC approach to emergencies focuses on building coordination and resilience in the health system and the community. The Health Communication Capacity Collaborative (HC3) has developed a framework which articulates how to leverage SBCC throughout a public health emergency: The SBCC Emergency Helix.

In this webinar, we will introduce the SBCC Emergency Helix and practical resources for integrating it into current and future public health emergencies. Speakers will discuss the importance of continuous community engagement, formative and operational research, and media partnership in emergency contexts. The discussion will draw upon speakers’ experiences with the Ebola and Zika responses.

Speakers include:

Claudia Vondrasek, MPH, has over 30 years of experience managing social and behavior change communication programs in Africa. Since 2014, Claudia has led RMNCH and community health programs in Cote d’Ivoire, DRC, Guinea, Mali and Senegal. She is currently working to rebuild trust and increase service utilization post-Ebola in Guinea.

Dr. Gaya Gamhewage, MD, has more than 20 years of experience in public health. For the 2014-2015 Ebola response in West Africa, Gaya was assigned to coordinate all Ebola-related training for UNMEER. She currently leads risk communication and community engagement work at the global level for WHO’s responses to Zika and yellow fever. She is also leading the development of WHO’s first-ever evidence-based guideline on emergency risk communication and has published several articles on the practice of risk communication in the 21st century.

Juliet Bedford, PhD, is the Founder and Director of Anthrologica, a global research organization specializing in applied anthropology in global health. Juliet has over 15 years’ technical experience in developing contexts, fragile states and emergency settings. She was involved in the Ebola response in West Africa with the UNMEER and UNICEF. She is currently supporting the coordination of social science and operational research in the Zika response for WHO and its partners.

Ida Jooste is a South African journalist, the recipient of some twenty international and South African media awards. She is currently the Health Media advisor at Internews, where she leads health media training programs around the globe. Through the HC3 program Information Saves Lives, Ida recently conducted a small scale survey in two counties in Liberia to gauge the ongoing information needs of citizens about Ebola issues in this “post-Ebola” phase.