Behavior Change Communication (BCC): Importance and Strategies

Table of Contents

What is Behavior Change Communication (BCC)?

Behavior Change Communication (BCC) is a communication strategy which encourages individual/community to change their behavior.
It is a strategy that triggers people/society/communities to adopt healthy, beneficial and positive behavioral practices.
BCC is an effective communication approach which helps to promote changes in knowledge, attitudes, norms, beliefs and behaviors
BCC is an interactive process with communities (as incorporated with a general program) to create custom-fitted messages and methodologies utilizing an assortment of correspondence channels to create positive practices; advance and support individual, network and cultural conduct change; and keep up suitable practices.
BCC is a powerful and fundamental human interaction – communication – which positively influences dimensions of health and well-being.
BCC is a direct approach towards changing behavior. It is different to traditional IEC materials as IEC materials are not considered for creating awareness and giving information as compared to BCC.
BCC is described by its straight approach towards changing behavior.

BCC messages must be:

Increase in knowledge and attitude of the people
BCC helps to trigger and stimulate people for adopting positive behavioral approaches
BCC promotes appropriate and essential attitude change
As BCC strategies and messages are tailored for specific target groups, these strategies are efficient and effective.
BCC approaches are more sustainable and acceptable
BCC helps to increase learning and skills
It improve aptitudes and feeling of self-adequacy

BCC helps in learning, mindfulness, convictions, and sentiments about wellbeing practices. It plays a significant role in deciding wellbeing conduct.

BCC approach stimulates community to take ownership towards the approach. Additionally, it will also help the community to replicate the positive practices in bigger level.

BCC will play a significant role in lobbying & advocacy of certain practices. These approaches will support and encourage government and other stakeholders to bring a positive whim among all the citizens for adopting positive behavioral practices.

The guiding principles of BCC are:

1. Analysis

Comprehend the idea of the issues and hindrances to change.
Tune in to a potential group of spectators, survey existing project approaches, assets, qualities, and shortcomings and investigate correspondence assets.

2. Strategic Design

Settle on destinations, recognize crowd portions, position the idea for the group of spectators
Explain the conduct change model to be utilized, select channels of correspondence, plan for relational discourse, draw up an activity plan, and structure for assessment.

3. Development, Pretesting, Revision, and Production

Create message ideas, pretest with a group of spectator’s individuals and guards.
Amend and produce messages/materials and pretest new and existing materials.

4. The executives, implementation, and monitoring

Implement the BCC and carry out continuous monitoring to see the positive and negative effects.
Conduct critical analysis of the approach.
Make sure that the messages coherent with the objective of the BCC.

5. Making arrangements for continuity

User identification
Community Mobilization: Mass media for making mindfulness for national projects like adolescent wellbeing, MCH wellbeing administrations, and so forth.
Platform: Home visits, gatherings
Target population: Identify the key target population of the message
Advancement of healthy behavior messages: MCH, Nutrition, Contraception, Adolescents, Health, Hygiene, Sanitation, Epidemics, and so on.

a) Material-focused as opposed to conducting focused:

In most of the cases, BCC approaches are considered as ‘material-focused’ rather than ‘conduct focused.
This implies the greater part of the consideration; time and assets go into the generation of materials, (for example, handouts).
In any case, while alluring materials may grab somebody’s eye, they do not without anyone else persuade individuals to change conduct.

b) Limited capacity within local line agencies:

Local agencies and organizations might not have enough skills and ability to develop triggering BCC messages.
There may be limited abled human resource to facilitate the process of effective BCC message generation
BCC messages if not prepared without having proper idea about the context of the target population might be useless and go in vain.