Incorporating Net Care into Malaria Social and Behavior Change Communication Strategies: A Step-by-Step Guide

The purpose of this guide is to describe how to integrate activities to promote net care behaviours into existing insecticide-treated nets (ITN) social and behaviour change communication (SBCC) strategies and interventions. The guide is intended for use by groups and entities involved in distribution of ITNs or organisations that conduct communication activities related to ITN distribution and use.

ITNs are known to be one of the most effective tools to prevent malaria worldwide. Even when ITNs have been distributed and are actually in use in households, they suffer wear and tear from daily use, which may shorten their lifespan. As stated in the guide, “By caring for ITNs, the rate of deterioration can be delayed, thus ensuring that ITNs last as long as possible, which is important to sustaining universal coverage and preventing malaria.”  There are many reasons for net damage - rough handling by children when not in use, rubbing against rough surfaces, rodents, and washing too frequently or too rigorously -  which can be mitigated within the household through simple actions.  SBCC is therefore an important tool to empower households to care for their nets.

Since malaria SBCC strategies and platforms already exist in most contexts, organisations can simply incorporate the topic of net care into existing SBCC programmes in a way that is complementary and at relatively little cost. In order to ensure that this happens in a systematic way (to ensure that communication activities align with intended programme objectives and outcomes, that the resulting work is effective, and that monitoring and evaluation activities are planned early and considered throughout the programme process), the guide proposes the P-Process™ developed by Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs to guide the development, implementation, and monitoring of SBCC programmes. This guide therefore covers each of the five steps of the P-Process™ and highlights key considerations to keep in mind for ITN care SBCC at each step.

The guide contains the following sections:

• Introduction
• Why is net care important for malaria SBCC?
• Key behaviors for net care
• When is the right time to implement net care SBCC?
• Steps to develop an SBCC strategy for ITN care
• Step 1: Inquiry (conduct audience research, communication platform analysis)
• Step 2: Strategic design (plan the objectives, strategies, audiences, actions, messages,
• media to be used)
• Step 3: Create and test (create the materials, media, interpersonal communication (IPC), trainings, community activities to be implemented, and pre-test them with the audience,
• adjusting as needed)
• Step 4: Mobilize and Monitor (launch interventions, monitor input, process, and initial outcomes)
• Step 5: Evaluate and Evolve (conduct evaluation, re-assess, re-plan, refine strategy and implementation)
• Areas for further research
• Related Resources