PREPARATION OF

IEC MATERIALS
Dr thulasiram
Junior resident
Dept of transfusion medicine
INTRODUCTION
 IEC-INFORMATION EDUCATION AND
COMMUNICATION
 Health promotion and health education
activities rely on a variety of well designed
and effective IEC materials to help ensure
success.
 From experience, certain fundamentals
pertaining to the development of IEC
materials are obvious.
 Every brochure, poster, videotape or other
piece of IEC material is the product of a
decision, supported by research, to deal with
a specific health concern, and to be well
received and persuasive among a specific
audience.
 There is a six–step approach, with each step
supporting the next, which IEC material
design teams should endevor to follow. This
approach includes:
1. Selecting the most appropriate IEC material
· Types of IEC materials
·Strengths and limitations of different IEC
materials
· Selecting IEC materials should be based on
knowledge of the target audience
· Criteria for selecting IEC materials
· Mixing IEC materials for more impact
2. Developing a creative brief
· The importance of a creative brief
· Elements of a creative brief
3. Preparing draft / prototype IEC materials —
(or adapting existing materials)
· Guidelines for developing new IEC materials,
or selecting / adapting existing IEC materials
· Qualities of effective IEC materials
4. Pretesting draft / prototype or adapted IEC
materials
· Pretest variables — what to look for
· Steps for carrying out the pretest
5. Assessing pretest results and revising IEC
materials
· Changes in materials
· Number of pretests
 6. Monitoring the use and impact of IEC
materials
SELECTING THE MOST
APPROPRIATE IEC MATERIAL
 Types of IEC Materials For purposes of
discussion will focus on two areas or types of
IEC materials:
 Graphics and audio-visuals — which would
include brochures, posters, display boards,
videotapes, slides, flip charts.
 Mass media — which would include radio,
television, movies, newspapers, and
magazines.
SELECTING IEC MATERIALS SHOULD BE BASED
ON KNOWLEDGE OF THE TARGET AUDIENCE
 In order to select the most effective IEC
material for use in health promotion
activities, the development team needs to
be able to answer the following questions:
 Which material or materials best fit the
audience's learning style / preference?
 What are the literacy and educational levels
of the target audience?
 Are there any culturally–specific values and
beliefs that might impact on the acceptance
of certain material types or designs?
 What are the communities impression's of
past, similar health promotion and health
education programs and products?
 Some of the basic approaches that can be
employed in gathering information about
target audience preferences and
characteristics, knowledge and attitudes,
include:
 Observations
 Informal Conversations
 Surveys
 In depth Interviews
 Focus Groups
GUIDELINES FOR SELECTING IEC MATERIALS
 The following should be carefully considered when
selecting IEC materials for production.
1. Information collected from the target audience
investigation will help to indicate the following:
 Which channels the target audience prefers and
has access to — electronic, print, interpersonal.
 Which channels are most effective for
communicating messages to the target audience.
 Where the target audience is in the stages of
behavior adoption (i.e., have accepted the idea of
family planning, but are not sure as to what
method to use) and what channels might be most
effective in moving them along.
2. Match the ability of the IEC material to deal with
specific message content by applying the following
guidelines:
 Does the IEC material lend itself to the content of
the message? For example, radio can by effective
for some content, but less so for messages that
require supporting visuals.
 Is the image or message to be conveyed more
visual or more audio based? Or is it a combination
of both? Does it rely primarily on written words?
 Can the chosen material provide the message
frequency or reach that is needed?
[Link] production difficulties and costs as
follows:
 Some materials are more costly than others in
production. They either require more professional
expertise, more costly production equipment, or
more personnel. Radio production costs are
considerably less than television. Even if there is
financial support for the production phase, is
there money to continue to air the messages?
 Some channels will take much longer than others
to get operational. Production time constraints
may be important.
4. Analyze frequency and reach of the IEC
materials as follows:
 Different materials have different audience
reach and coverage.
 While television and radio can reach
thousands of people at the same time,
individual focused print materials can only
reach a limited number of individuals at the
most.
 Select the material, or combination of
materials, that best meets program needs.
5. Identify the logistic efforts needed as
follows:
 Different materials have different logistical
demands.
 Some materials require much more effort to
distribute or deliver than others.
 Distributing thousands of posters to hundreds
of health centers is more demanding than
sending out audio–cassettes or video tapes to
radio and television stations.
DEVELOPING A CREATIVE BRIEF
 After collecting information on the target
audience, determining what would be the
best IEC materials to be used, and before
beginning the actual design of IEC materials,
the IEC material development team should
prepare a "creative brief" for each material
to be prepared.
ELEMENTS OF A CREATIVE BRIEF
 Target Audience.
 Communication
 Obstacles.
 Key Message / Advice.
 Support Statement/Reasons Why.
 Tone.
 Creative Considerations.
 PREPARING DRAFT / PROTOTYPE IEC MATERIALS
(OR ADAPTING EXISTING MATERIALS)
 Health promotion programs can quickly
generate massive quantities and types of IEC
materials. Many government and NGO offices
continue to increase their holdings of IEC
materials. stockpiles. If requested, it is
usually possible to use another organizations
IEC material collection, thus avoiding the
time and expenses involved in designing and
producing original materials. If incorporating
text or visuals from copyrighted material,
permission must be obtained from the
original, authors or artists.
PRETESTING DRAFT / PROTOTYPE
OR ADAPTED IEC MATERIAL
 Definition: What is pretesting? What do we
pretest?
 Pretesting is testing the draft materials or
concepts and messages with representatives
of your target audience before the materials
are produced in their final form.
 You should pretest the materials for the
media; concepts; symbols, and slogans.
 Pretest variables — what to measure Five
variables should be measured during the
pretest of draft IEC materials:
Comprehension, Attractiveness, Acceptance,
Involvement, and Inducement to Action.
ASSESSING PRETEST RESULTS
AND REVISING IEC MATERIALS
 It is safe to assume that if 70 percent of the
target audience understands the IEC material
and message, would consider taking the
action recommended, and finds the IEC
material attractive, acceptable, and
believable, then the materials are successful.
 However, if the IEC material is understood or
accepted by less than 70 percent, the IEC
material development team must consider
making changes to the design of material and
message.
MONITORING THE USE AND
IMPACT OF IEC MATERIALS
 Monitoring the use and impact of IEC
materials Monitoring of IEC materials refers
to the review and supervision of distribution
and usage activities.
 Findings are used to improve distribution
systems, the use of materials by health
workers, and the future design of materials.
 Monitoring is a tool to identify and correct
problems early enough to make changes and
maximize the impact of the IEC materials.