Ministry of Health promoting behaviour change communication

The Ministry of Health is currently hosting a two-day workshop designed to get departments across the public service to utilize communication for behaviour change as a tool to inform projects and initiatives.

The event is taking place at the Kingstown Baptist Church and is being facilitated by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), through funding by the United

States Agency for International Development (USAID).

It forms part of a regional thrust, as similar workshops have been held across the Caribbean.

Social and Behaviour Change Specialist with UNICEF, Dr. Lisa McClean-Trotman said the recent pandemic brought to the fore, the importance of utilizing social and behaviour change initiatives.

“It can span across sectors, whether it be education, child protection, and this was the reality in covid … we had education as we looked at safe return to schools and working in collaboration closely with health…. We decided this would be a good point in which we can start to build resilience in the region” as they look “to strengthen the capacities across different sectors,” Dr. McClean-Trotman explained.

In an interview with the Agency for Public Information, Chief Health Promotions Officer, Shanika John said the Ministry of Health recognizes the importance of equipping the various ministries with this type of training as it would certainly be useful.

Communication for Social and Behaviour Change is heavily utilised in the implementation of health-related campaigns across the world. (API)