Education And Communication

Strategies

Prepared by Ms Ayesha
HND-FST
Date: 13/03/2025
 Policy
 National food and nutrition policy in developed and developing
countries emphasizes the improvement of the quality of life of its
citizens by striving to:
 Stimulate and sustain the production and consumption of more
nutritious foods,· promote proper food habits and healthy
lifestyles,
 Reduce the prevalence of protein-energy malnutrition,
 Reduce the prevalence of micronutrient deficiency, particularly
vitamin A, iron, and iodine, among vulnerable groups, and
 Reduce over-consumption of certain nutrients, particularly fat,
saturated fat, sodium, and alcohol.
 Goal
 The ultimate goal of nutrition education is to produce
nutritionally literate decision makers who are motivated,
knowledgeable, skilled, and willing to choose proper nutrition
alternatives (Lewis, 1976).
 To be effective, nutrition education must communicate clear
messages with a specific behavior-change goal for target groups
(Guthrie, 1978 in Valdecanas, 1985).
 Nutrition education and communication programmes have
evolved from a one-way flow of communication, that is, a mere
dissemination of information to persuade target groups to change
food beliefs, attitudes, and habits.

 A two-way process of sharing is preferred, where participants in

a nutrition programme can freely exchange knowledge, values,
and practices on nutrition, food, and related areas. This view of
nutrition education as a mechanism for interaction, ensures the
active involvement of those who could and should take part in
decision making, and in motivating and providing users with
easy access to nutrition-related information, resources, and
services.
Process of
education/communication
There are many steps involved in the process of
conducting a nutrition and health education
programme.
During this process, identification and analysis of
problem is most important.
Educator should also know what message to give and
methodology to use to communicate to the people so
that they are able to improve their nutrition and health
behaviors.
Educators then introduce the process of nutrition
education.
 Approaches
 Several approaches to nutrition education have been developed
and effectively applied over the years.
 These include:
 social marketing
 social mobilization
 development-support communication.
 Commonalities
 The ultimate goal is to improve the quality of life of people
through a participatory process of communication
 There is a demand to establish a dynamic relationship among the
participants of the programme
 Information, education and communication (IEC) strategies are
built into the process,
 The core elements of the process are:
formative research, assessment and analysis; capacity building;
development of a multi-channel communication strategy;
community organizing; networking, alliance-building, and co-
ordination with linkage and support systems; design, pre-testing,
and development of messages and materials; and monitoring and
evaluation
 Social marketing
 It is described as;
A social change management technology that involves the design,
implementation and control of programmes aimed at increasing the
acceptability of a social idea or practice in one or more groups of
target adopters
(Kotler & Roberto, 1989).
 The strategy adopts the four Ps of marketing, namely product, price,
place, and promotion.
 In the last 20 years, social marketers have been involved in
promoting better health and nutrition in the developing countries of
Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
 A great deal of experience has been documented in the social
marketing of breast-feeding, weaning foods, oral rehydration salts,
and immunization (McKee, 1992).
Social mobilization
 It is described by UNICEF as:

“A process of generating and sustaining the active and co-

ordinated participation of all sectors at various levels to facilitate
and accelerate the improvement of the situation of children,
women, and other vulnerable groups”
 The need for social mobilization is based on the following
concerns: (a) children, and often women, are
powerless; (b) programme resources for solving problems are
limited; and (c) concerns for children and women go beyond a
project basis. The aims of social mobilization are to hasten the
delivery of basic services and to promote convergence and
generate resources for children and women's
programmes" (UNICEF, 1995).
Strategies
 To generate commitment and action among those who can
contribute to the solution of social problems, certain
strategies are employed that put prime importance on
interpersonal communication. The six strategies include the
following:

 Advocacy
 Advocacy among policy-makers, key personalities, groups
and organisations. Advocacy is a planned communication
effort to persuade decision makers at policy, planning, and
management levels to adopt necessary policies and allocate
resources for a cause.
 Information, education, and communication (IEC)

 IEC approaches are used to reach target groups. Social mobilisation

uses all available and potential communication approaches,
resources, techniques, channels, methods, and tools. It is not a mere
information campaign or communication project, but a long-term
programme built into the sectoral programmes of a community.
Some examples of IEC activities are:
 the development, production and distribution of appropriate printed
materials such as brochures, pamphlets, posters, leaflets, and
flyers;· radio spots, plugs, jingles, documentaries, and schools on-
the-air;
 video and other audio-visual materials like slide-tape presentations
and film showings; and
 messages integrated into communication programmes, services, and
products of allied agencies.
 Training of programme implementors
 Training enables personnel to acquire the necessary skills for the
delivery of services. The implementor also uses training to
improve people's knowledge, appreciation, and mobilisation, of
community resources to achieve the desired outcome, usually for
local and individual empowerment.

 Community organising
 Community organising to empower parents, families, groups, and
the whole community, is used to build their capacity for problem
solving, decision making, and collective action, thus developing
and strengthening their networks. Community organising allows
community members to recognise their problems and needs,
decide on what they can do and how they can act collectively, that
is, pool ideas as well as human and physical resources, and
together benefit from all available resources and services.
 Networking, establishing linkages, and building alliances
 This includes networking, establishing linkages, and building alliances
with those who can actually and potentially act on the problem. The
implementor of social mobilisation builds alliances and linkages not
only with families in the community, but also with institutions,
agencies, and organisations. Among potential allies of the community
are the non-governmental organisations (NGOs), people's
organisations, self-help groups, and local government executives.
These networks allow communities to maximise limited resources and
services to a level where their inputs have a much greater impact.

 Monitoring and evaluation

 Monitoring and evaluation determines the efficiency of programme
implementation and the effectiveness of the strategies used in
achieving defined goals. The results are used to adjust the programme
as needed to improve impact and maximise resources.
 Development support
communication (DSC)
 The systematic utilization of appropriate communication channels
and techniques to increase people's participation in development
and to inform, motivate, and train rural populations mainly at the
grassroots level" (FAO, 1987).

 The dsc approach is seen as a system with three sub-systems that

provide the framework for planning, implementation, and
evaluation. The sub-systems include: (I) DSC action plan or process
model; (ii) DSC training plan; and, (iii) DSC management plan
(stuart, 1994)
 The DSC action plan/DSC process
model
 The DSC action plan, or DSC process model, provides a
systematic approach to changing and exchanging knowledge,
attitudes and practices.
 It is adaptable to diverse development contexts and situations
and thus allows room for adjustments according to local realities.
 It has four major stages:
 pre-planning,
 planning,
 implementation,
 post-implementation with corresponding steps and activities.
 The DSC management plan

 The DSC management plan is an essential part of the DSC

system because orchestrating people, resources, and time
requires a systematic management program.
 Sound program project planning, implementation, and evaluation
depend on good management.
 This involves ;
planning, staffing, budgeting, controlling resources, guiding and
coordinating people's activities, setting policies, guidelines and
standards, and monitoring and evaluation.
 The DSC training plan
 As a sub-system, the DSC training plan recognizes the
importance of capability building in DSC and relevant
technologies for all participants in a development programme
where a DSC component is in place.
 The training promotes the sustainability of the programmes.
 There are eight steps in the training planning process:
training needs assessment, setting training objectives, selection
of training format, preparation of curriculum content,
development of training support materials and media, training
proper, evaluation, and planning for echo-trainings.
Key Considerations for Different
Groups
Young learners:
Use interactive activities, storytelling, and
visual aids to capture attention.
Older adults:
Ensure clear and concise communication,
consider larger fonts and accessible formats.
Individuals with disabilities:
Adapt communication methods to
accommodate specific needs, such as providing
written materials or sign language
interpretation.
References
https://
www.fao.org/4/w3733e/w3733e04.htm
Nutrition Education and Research
https://
faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/zim222620.pdf
https://
www.snggdcg.ac.in/pdf/study-material/food-
and-nutrition/nutrition-education-communic
ation-process.pdf
https://
faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/zim222620.pdf