The Drum Beat 792 - The Power of Dialogue?

• 1.Community Dialogue to Shift Social Norms and Enable Family Planning: An Evaluation of the Family Planning Results Initiative in Kenya
  by Christina Wegs, Andreea A. Creanga, Christine Galavotti, and Emmanuel WamalwaAs part of an effort to shift household-level gender dynamics and reported use of family planning (FP) in Kenya, CARE trained community-based facilitators to hold 759 dialogues over a 3.5-year period that featured, for example, role modeling by community leaders and satisfied FP users. The evaluation found that, by catalysing open dialogue about gender and FP, the intervention shifted social norms, enabled more equitable couple communication and decision-making, and, ultimately, increased use of FP, especially among women. [Apr 2016]
   
• 2.Developing a Gap Analysis Tool to Improve Ebola Vaccine Acceptance and Compliance in Sub-Saharan Africa
  The Ebola Vaccine Deployment, Acceptance and Compliance (EBODAC) Consortium has developed the Ebola Vaccine Communication, Community Engagement and Compliance Management (3C) Gap Analysis Tool to enable governments, in conjunction with other stakeholders, to assess preparedness to deploy an Ebola vaccine in Sierra Leone, Senegal, and Uganda from a demand-side perspective. The researchers engaged in an iterative process of user-centric co-design in the development of the 3C tool that involved, for instance, the setting up of multidisciplinary Project Steering Committees in each of the 3 countries; their early buy-in and feedback on user preference was considered vital to ensuring the 3C tool's acceptance and use.
   
• 3.Community Dialogue to Address Antibiotic Resistance in Bangladesh: Research Intervention
  The community dialogue approach (CDA) aims to trigger individual and social change for improved health outcomes in low-resource settings through community engagement. On the CDA, community-based volunteers facilitate regular meetings to explore how a health issue affects the community, identify solutions, and decide collectively how to address the issue. Drawing on this approach in an effort to combat the spread of antibiotic resistance, 446 community dialogue meetings were held in Comilla district, Bangladesh, between April and October 2018. One challenge observed was volunteers' ability to facilitate rather than dominate community dialogue meetings and encourage active participation.
   
• 4.Stakeholder Views on the Acceptability of Human Infection Studies in Malawi
  by Blessings M. Kapumba, Kondwani Jambo, Jamie Rylance, Markus Gmeiner, Rodrick Sambakunsi, Michael Parker, Stephen B. Gordon, and Kate GoodingOften conducted as part of vaccine testing, human infection studies (HIS) raise challenging questions for ethical practice and community engagement in that they involve the deliberate infection of healthy adult volunteers with a microbial pathogen. To reflect on the implications of planned Streptococcus pneumoniae HIS work in Malawi, the Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme (MLW) conducted 6 deliberative focus group discussions that included, among others, members of MLW's Community Advisory Group. The process revealed the importance of a two-way approach in informing the acceptable design of future HIS, as well as the intrinsic value and ethical importance of public involvement. [Feb 2020]
   
• See also:
  Community Dialogues for Child Health: Results from a Qualitative Process Evaluation in Three Countries
  

• 5.Tailoring in the Digital Era: Stimulating Dialogues on Health Topics in Collaboration with Social Media Influencers
  by Roel O Lutkenhaus, Jeroen Jansz, and Martine PA BoumanIn many online communities, content-creating audience members have become particularly influential and act as opinion leaders, introducing new information and ideas to their social circles and setting the agenda for conversations. A case study from the Netherlands illustrates that tailored health interventions require strategies in which health communicators and social influencers work closely together. In such collaborations, there is a need for a common frame of reference that guides the collaboration process, balancing tasks and responsibilities. [Jan 2019]
   
• 6.A Realist Evaluation of a Community-Centered Radio Initiative for Health and Development in Mindanao, Philippines
  by Ross W. James, Eila Romo-Murphy, and Mae-Mosette Oczon-QuiranteSince 2000, Radio Gandingan (RG) has aimed to bring about social change and development among minority communities in Mindanao, Philippines. The researchers undertook a realist evaluation (RE), which is based on the idea that it is not interventions that work but, rather, the way people respond to mechanisms (components or resources) that brings about change. Among the findings of the RE was that, through RG, dialogue had resolved community conflict, strengthened family bonds and relationships, and improved communication and understanding between community leaders and community members. [Aug 2019]
   
• 7.MTV Shuga: Alone Together
  On April 20 2020, MTV premiered a COVID-19-related version of the MTV Shuga edutainment series that featured 70 daily scripted episodes filmed throughout lockdown in Kenya, Côte D'Ivoire, Nigeria, South Africa, Botswana, and the United States (US). Available for streaming and sharing across online platforms, the pan-African mini-series sees characters from different countries connecting via video calls as they navigate their "new normal" under COVID-19 - reflecting how social media has become the new form of socialising during this era of lockdown. The purpose of the initiative is to remind people who may feel isolated that they are not truly alone, as well as to reinforce crucial behaviour change messages that can contribute to the global fight to flatten the COVID-19 curve.
  
  * Please see these strategic learnings from the MTV Shuga team, and lend your voice to the dialogue!
   
• 8.The Views and Perspectives of Radio Ergo's Female Listeners in Mogadishu and Baidoa, Somalia
  by Shukria DiniIn the Somali language, the word "ergo" means mediators or envoys in the interest of people in need, and can also refer to those who mediate in conflicts. Radio Ergo, run by International Media Support, works to amplify women's voices. This report examines the views and perspectives of female listeners - e.g., "Radio Ergo acts as a connector because its programmes frequently provoke discussions among female listeners....In addition, the radio is generating healthy dialogue and debate for the people of Somalia, who have borne the brunt of the protracted conflict and natural disasters. Radio Ergo allows its female listeners to recognize their roles and responsibilities as citizens engaged in rebuilding their lives in a new Somalia." [Jan 2020]
   
• 9.Big Changes Start Small - Stories of People Making a Difference
  With projects in about 50 countries, DW Akademie works together with people, organisations, and communities striving for constructive dialogue and contributing to an active and informed civil society. To examine the effects of their engagement, DW Akademie has produced a collection of journalistic reports on some of the people and projects they are supporting - e.g., a citizen journalism project in refugee camps in Lebanon that produces video reports to be published on social media. [2020]
   

• Recent COVID-19 Dialogue on The CI Platform - The Drum Beat 789
  
  
• When People Engage - The Drum Beat 780
  
  

• 10.Clinical and Vaccine Trials for COVID-19: Key Considerations from Social Science
  by Rose Burns, Alex Bowmer, Luisa Enria, Samantha Vanderslott, and Shelley LeesFrom the Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform (SSHAP), this brief outlines how, and in what ways, social science can contribute to ongoing/future COVID-19 clinical and vaccine trials. For instance, social science insights help elucidate the complexities of the situations in which outbreaks occur, and the dynamic, complex and uncertain forms of public authority and power that are at play. The brief articulates why community engagement and open dialogue with COVID-19 vaccine trial participants and their communities - pre, during, and post-trial - are key to identifying sources of mistrust and, ultimately, finding and delivering a successful vaccine. [Oct 2020]
   
• 11.Structural Coercion in the Context of Community Engagement in Global Health Research Conducted in a Low Resource Setting in Africa
  by Deborah Nyirenda, Salla Sariola, Patricia Kingori, Bertie Squire, Chiwoza Bandawe, Michael Parker, and Nicola DesmondParticipatory approaches have increasingly been viewed as crucial for effective and ethical conduct of development programmes, including health research, in the global south. This paper details a qualitative study that explored whether and in what ways community engagement (CE), in practice, improves the ethical conduct of research in the context of structural inequalities in Malawi. In short, the study found that CE alone did not address underlying structural inequalities or ensure that informed consent was voluntarily given; rather, there was ample evidence of structural coercion in the context of CE in this low-resource setting. [Sep 2020]
   
• 12.Evaluating Approaches to Designing Effective Co-Created Hand-Hygiene Interventions for Children in India, Sierra Leone and the UK
  by Sapphire Crosby, Sarah Younie, Iain Williamson, and Katie LairdThe COVID-19 pandemic has brought to global attention the importance of hand hygiene in disease control and prevention. This paper describes and evaluates a set of educational resources and workshop activities ("A Germ's Journey") for young children initially developed in the United Kingdom. When adapting these materials for India and Sierra Leone, the team worked in partnership with the end-users (local children, teachers, and professionals). It was vital that the collaborators had joint agency and an ongoing working relationship with the researchers in order to follow the democratic philosophy underpinning the co-creation approach, dismantling traditional researcher-participant relations and instead enabling a shared power in the research process. [Sep 2020]
   
• 13.Walking the (Argumentative) Talk Using Citizen Science: Involving Young People in a Critical Policy Analysis of Vaccination Policy in Austria
  by Katharina T. Paul and Thomas PalfingerCitizen science is characterised here as going beyond simply communicating research results to the public; rather, it entails direct interaction between scientists and non-scientists during the research process. This paper reports on a citizen science case study of a polarising vaccine: the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. The researchers recruited 3 cohorts of 16-year old pupils in Austria to study and analyse a dataset of over 400 press releases. They developed an online platform for the purpose of jointly analysing material and engaged in direct exchange with participants through a series of workshops. Among the challenges: The school setting hampered the voluntary character of participation and limited the researchers' ability to depart from a top-down approach. [Jan 2020]
   
• 14.Community Engagement of African Americans in the Era of COVID-19: Considerations, Challenges, Implications, and Recommendations for Public Health
  by Tabia Henry Akintobi, Theresa Jacobs, Darrell Sabbs, Kisha Holden, Ronald Braithwaite, L. Neicey Johnson, Daniel Dawes, and LaShawn HoffmanThe COVID-19 pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on African Americans in the US due to racial/ethnic health disparities that are linked to interconnected historical, policy, clinical, and community factors. This report describes the pandemic response strategies of the Morehouse School of Medicine Prevention Research Center, which centre on community-based participatory research (CBPR), exploring community-centred implications and next steps to advance the art and science of community engagement among African Americans in the COVID-19 era. [Sep 2020]
   
• 15.Growing Up GREAT! Implementation Guide
  by Jennifer GaylesDeveloped by Save the Children as a part of the Passages Project, this resource is designed for organisations that wish to adopt a scalable, multilevel intervention for improving gender equity and sexual and reproductive health (SRH) for very young adolescents (VYAs). Growing Up GREAT! creates opportunities for critical reflection within peer groups that go beyond outreach and messaging. Discussions in VYA clubs and during caregiver testimonial videos and community reflection sessions allow participants to explore and question existing norms within safe spaces and challenge them to engage the wider community in this reflection through a process called organised diffusion. The sessions also focus on confronting power imbalances related to gender and age and creating positive new norms by presenting strong VYA role models. [Aug 2020]
   
• See also:
  Intergenerational Dialogue for Democracy
  

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