Experiences from a mobile-based behaviour change campaign on maternal and child nutrition in rural India

Abstract

Social and behaviour change communication interventions are believed to gain from using mobile technology owing to the reach and rapid scaling promise of technology. In this paper we describe our experiences from the layering of an IVR based content platform for behaviour change in maternal and child nutrition practices in the state of Bihar in rural central India. We specifically show that being able to leverage technology effectively can be quite complex and needs a careful implementation design. We demonstrate that technology adoption takes time and has to be encouraged through offline mechanisms. We also demonstrate that diversification of content on the IVR platform can facilitate greater usage of the platform. We outline the technology assisted concurrent monitoring methods developed by us, and how the data analysis helps identify gaps to take timely corrective action. Finally, we discuss the pros and cons of different pathways to reach women users in rural areas. The insights derived from our work can serve as guidelines for designing technology-based behaviour change campaigns.