Health Communication Campaigns in Developing Countries

Abstract

Despite a lack of scholarly consensus on the effectiveness of health communication campaigns, there is general agreement that communication interventions are necessary to bring about and maintain large-scale behaviour and social change. Designing, implementing and evaluating health communication campaigns is a complex task with myriad challenges, multiplied manifold in developing country settings. The purpose of this article is to examine key elements of health communication campaigns in developing countries. A review of published literature revealed 43 articles and five books with chapters discussing developing country campaigns. The project locations indicated a wide geographical dispersion. The campaigns reviewed ranged from multinational initiatives to programmes confined to specific cities or villages. The health issues tackled in the manuscripts were reflective of the health goals articulated in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. A relatively small proportion of the reviewed literature discussed the use of theory as a framework or foundation for the intervention(s); individual-level behaviour change theories were the most commonly used. The selected campaigns utilized a range of mass media, community mobilization, and interpersonal communication strategies, and often employed multiple strategies and communication channels. A set of recommendations is presented to further our understanding of communication campaigns in developing country settings.