Record Details

Communications for Development

Harvard Dataverse (Africa Rice Center, Bioversity International, CCAFS, CIAT, IFPRI, IRRI and WorldFish)

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Field Value
 
Title Communications for Development
 
Identifier https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/CQRNC7
 
Creator Fink, Günther
Karlan, Dean
Udry, Christopher
Osei, Robert
 
Publisher Harvard Dataverse
 
Description In 2012, Ghana Health Services (GHS), with funding from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), launched a Communication for Development (C4D) program in twelve districts of the four poorest regions of Ghana. The main objective of this program was to encourage families to adopt and consistently practice five health behaviors which are critical for preventing under-five mortality: sleeping under an insecticide-treated mosquito net (ITN), utilization of oral rehydration solution (ORS) for the treatment of diarrhea, hand-washing with soap, exclusive breastfeeding and delivery with a skilled birth attendant. The C4D intervention package tried to achieve behavioral change through four main activities: (1) Home visits and counseling by Community-Based Agents (CBAs) affiliated with GHS; (2) Ghana Community Radio Network (GCRN) community radio broadcasts of focus group discussions and jingles; (3) Theatre dramas supported by the Center for National Culture (CNC); and (4) Video screening of recorded drama supported by the CNC. Additionally, a mobile messaging intervention (Mobile for development or M4D) was developed to complement the ongoing C4D activities. The M4D program targeted the same behaviors as the C4D program. Rather than relying on home visits, drama or radio programming, the program relied on voice messages directly delivered to female respondents through their cell phones. The main objective of this evaluation was to determine the impact of the C4D and M4D programs on the practice of the five key behaviors mentioned above. In order to allow for a rigorous evaluation of these programs, the C4D program was randomly rolled out at the community level, while the M4D program was randomized at the individual level. To capture changes in behavior, three survey rounds were conducted: A baseline survey in 2012, a midline survey in 2014 and an endline survey in 2016. Two round of qualitative data collection were also conducted to complement and explain the findings of the quantitative analysis.
 
Subject Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
Social Sciences
Communicable diseases
Diarrhea
Malaria
Digital and mobile
Early childhood development
Health care delivery
Preventive health
Water
Sanitation
Hygiene
 
Language English
 
Contributor Research Support, Innovations for Poverty Action
 
Type Survey data