A New Quality Improvement Tool for Social and Behavior Change Communication Programs

The Health Communication Capacity Collaborative (HC3) has developed a streamlined tool to improve the quality of social and behavior change communication (SBCC) programs: SBCC Check-In. It is designed to be quick, constructive and used consistently throughout an SBCC programming cycle. Each SBCC Check-In only takes about 30 to 60 minutes to complete.

The tool includes a set of quality standards based on a review process that identified common elements of the most effective SBCC programs. The standards are organized into three sections according to the general phases of programming: planning, implementation and evaluation. SBCC Check-In users choose a particular SBCC program or program component to assess and a section of the tool to use, depending on their stage in the program cycle. After scoring the program against each quality standard, users receive an overall section score with color-coded score interpretations, which can be used to help focus attention on critical areas for improvement in their program. Users are then guided through the creation of a simple quality improvement action plan.

SBCC Check-In is available both online (recommended) and as a PDF download. The online version comes with a few additional features including automatic score calculation, emailed results and a list of resources that may be useful for creating the improvement action plan.

Tips

SBCC Check-In is best used as part of a quality improvement system:

• Appoint an SBCC improvement committee to periodically investigate and improve quality.
• Use SBCC Check-In repeatedly throughout planning, implementation and evaluation phases of a strategic communication program. It is recommended to complete a Check-In at baseline and after executing each quality improvement plan. Check-Ins are also useful on an as-needed basis, such as when SBCC programs are not producing desired results.

Most importantly, continuous SBCC quality improvement can only be achieved when programmers continually investigate the current SBCC process and commit to improving it.

Access SBCC Check-In below and send feedback to info@healthcommcapacity.org to help improve this quality improvement tool.