Communication Strategy and IEC materials

Effective communication is the basis of behavior change for all stakeholders—women, their families, community leaders, program managers, and healthcare providers. A communication strategy document, developed by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Communication Programs, briefly outlines a generic communication strategy that supports the prevention and control of malaria in pregnancy. It illustrates a step-by-step process to define the communication strategy and examples of possible priority problems and how to address them.

A country-specific communication strategy should be developed with local stakeholders and the local communication specialists, taking into consideration updated national malaria policy and guidelines. An example communication strategy used in Nigeria is provided here.

The communication strategy suggests various types of tools to support mobilization activities, such as posters, calendars, pamphlets, and other resources designed to get key messages about malaria in pregnancy to women and their communities. The following are examples of actual tools in use.