Information, education

communication
APARNA AJAY
 Introduction
Information, education and
communication plays a pivotal role in
creating awareness, mobilizing
people and making development
participatory through advocacy and
by transferring knowledge , skills
and techniques to the people.
The IEC activities are to be undertaken
through the available modes of
communication in order to inform the
people with messages. Information ,
education and communication
(IEC)plays two most important roles –
informative and persuasive and as
such crucial for bringing about
requisite social mobilization and
facilitating participatory development.
IEC/BCC
Information Education Communication
(IEC) is used for generating awareness.
It means process of working with
individuals, communities & societies to
develop communication strategies to
promote positive behaviour that are
appropriate to their settings.
.
IEC/BCC activities play a very
important and strategic role in the
area of public health. Strategic IEC/
BCC programs use a systematic
process to understand people’s
behaviour and influences.
Asuccessful IEC/ BCC plan would
help in reducing myths and
misunderstandings prevalent in
the society and will lead to a
demand for the various health
services being provided, thus
bringing about a behavioural
change among individuals and
the community at large
Behaviour Change
Communication (BCC) is used
taking another step forward -
enabling action. It means provide
a supportive environment that
will enable people to initiate and
sustain positive behavior.
ROLE OF IEC
State Goals of IEC/BCC
To connect the programs to the
people by educating and
mobilizing the masses through
Information Education and
Communication (IEC)
To encourage individuals of
society to adopt healthy
behaviours.
 CONT
The state has decentralized the
planning and implementation of the
activities by coordinating the process
of development of State and District
IEC action plans from bottom up.
I.E.C. materials like posters, stickers,
pamphlets, leaflets, banners etc. are
produced and distributed to health
centers in all districts.
Other activities such as wall-paintings
and hoardings at important sites are
carried out from time to time
throughout the State. The State IEC
cell is also engaged in health
education and spreading awareness
through mass media such as
newspapers, television and radio.
 To support health services to
reduce MMR, IMR and TFR

 Educate community about the importance of Ante

Natal Care, Institutional Delivery, Post Natal Care and
Child immunization and motivate them to utilize
maternal and child health services on Mamta Diwas.
 Educate and advocate about schemes such as
Janani Suraksha Yojna,, Chiranjeevi Yojana for
promoting the Institutional Deliveries for the BPL
population.

 Promote temporary and permanent methods of

Family Planning
CONT..D
 To Provide I.E.C. support for national
programmes.
 National Health Programmes: National
Program for Control of Blindness (NPCB),
National Leprosy Eradication Programme
(NLEP), National Vector Borne Disease Control
Program(NVBDCP), National T.B. Control
Programme (RNTCP), HIV/AIDS and other
programs like Nutrition, Control of Sickle Cell
Anemia, National Iodine Deficiency Disorder
Control Programme (NIDDCP), Florosis
Prevention Control Program, Vit-A etc.
CONT..D
The State IEC team is responsible
for overseeing the planning,
implementation, monitoring, and
evaluation of IEC activities, Special
Campaigns, Health Education in
emergency, monitoring of activities
and capacity building of staff at the
districts and block levels, and front
line health service providers in
communication.
CONT..D
Integration of the IEC activities
would improve overall
coordination, more cost effective
and timely utilization of funds,
avoid duplication of resources,
and strengthen planning,
implementation and feedback.
IEC activities are especially
implemented through District IEC
Officers in all 33 districts with
special focus in tribal districts.
CELEBRATION OF HEALTH DAYS
30 January Anti Leprosy Day
24 March World T.B. Day
7 April World Health Day
11 April Safe Motherhood Day
15 May International Day of Families
28 May International Women’s Health
Day
31 May World Anti-Tobacco Day
5 June National Filaria Day
1-7 (Week) June Cleanliness week
1-30 (Month) June Anti Malaria Month
CONT..D
 July Doctors Day
11 July World Population Day
1-8 August (Week) Breast Feeding Week
25 Aug-10 Sep Eye Care Fortnight
1-7 (Week) September Nutrition Week
15 September Occupational Health Day
24 September Word Heart Day
1 October International Day For Older
Person
1 October National Voluntary Blood
Donation Day
2 October Anti Drug Addiction Day
CONT..D
4-10 (Week) October Mental Health Week
16 October World Food Day
14 November Universal Children’s Day
14 November Diabetes Day
14-20 (Week) November Newborn Care Week
1 December Anti AIDS Day
3 December World Handicap Day
10 December Human Right Day
THRUST AREAS OF IEC
FRAME WORK FOR IEC SRATEGY
CONT..D
 As envisaged in the Programme
Implementation Plan (PIP) of NRHM
Behaviour Change Communication
Strategies implemented are a mix of
media, message and interpersonal
communication with emphasis on
counseling of families and community.
The BCC interventions under NRHM
focused on a) Mass Media, b) Mid Media
(use of folk groups) and c)
Interpersonal Communication.
CONT..D
 While Mass media campaign focuses
on making use of electronic, print and other
possible media of mass communication
towards creating awareness and publicity for
demand generation/behaviour change 
 Mid media campaign focuses on
communication through art/folk media for
which NRHM has identified groups who can
perform street plays and other folk arts and
Equipped them to perform plays that
communicate health messages.
CONT..D
 As an aid to Inter Personal
Communication, flip charts on prioritized
topics were developed and are being used
by JPHNs and ASHAs at the FIELD level. 
Innovative initiatives like Radio
Health is also being implemented. Further,
special communication campaigns are
launched for immunization, promoting
breast feeding, control of communicable
and vector borne diseases.
 Ward Health Nutrition days
with focus on Reproductive Child
Health care services are held in
all the Wards in the state every
month on a particular day
focusing largely on Behaviour
Change.
Definition and concepts
Information: Defined as to describe it
as one or more statement or fact that is
received by a human which have some
form of worth to him. Information
affects the perspective of the recipient
person. The facts and figures that are
received by human have to be true and
factual to be labeled as information.
Counterfactual information is not
information itself but is called
misinformation.
 education
Education: it is process by
which behavioral changes takes
place in an individual as a result
of experience which he has
undergone. Education in a
learning process or a series of
learning experience through
which as individual inform and
orients himself to develop skills
and intelligent action.
Communication
 Communication is the process of attempting
to change the behavior of other. The
communication job is chiefly helping people
learn to look at things in a new way by
sharing idea and information. When people
exchange idea and information they can
work together better, sharing entail parting
with information that gives. Power
communication is a general term for the
flow of information linking people or place.
It is therefore the process of exchanging
news forts opinion and massages individual.
 The essentials of IEC
Information, education and
communication (IEC) combines
strategies, approaches and methods
that enable individuals, families,
groups, organizations and communities
to play active roles in achieving,
protecting and sustaining their own
health.IEC is the process of learning
that empowers people to make
decisions, modify behaviors and
change social conditions
 IEC training scheme
The information education and
communication training scheme was
launched by the ministry of health and
family welfare, with financial assistance from
USAID on 17th November 1987 in four Hindi
speaking states of UP, MP, Rajasthan and
Bihar in phased manner. Thus the ministry of
health and family welfare abroad the
scheme to continue as a plan scheme under
the 8th plan and made budgetary provision
as part of the IEC division of the ministry
 Objectives of IEC:

5
1 Increase concentrate
2 Improve 6 combine
the reach of on local 7 Improve
the quality 3 Make interperson
services by field performanc
of services supervision 4 link al
making visit problems e level
through more supervision communica
of worker both for through
knowledge oriented with at tion
and developme continuous
and skill towards various strategy
supervisor nt of with village
developme problem levels with mass
more training community
nt of solving media
predictable material volunteers
worker. approach.
and regular. and their
users.
Aims of IEC
To create
awareness and
disseminating To formulate
information on the appropriate IEC
programmes of the strategy in tune
ministry primarily with the
to the target communication
groups in rural needs of the
areas , to the various
opinion makers programmes.
and also to the
public at large.
Major component of
IEC:

Visit schedules
 Health education
Definition:
(According to WHO)
“Health education is any
combination of learning
experiences designed to help
individuals and communities
improve their health, by
increasing their knowledge or
influencing their attitudes.”
 Aim
To improves the health status of
individuals, families, communities,
states, and the nation through
enhancing the quality of life for all
people and reducing the cost
spend on treatment.
Objectives of health
education

Motivating Informing
people people:
 Importance of health
education
It improves the health status of people.
It enhances the quality of life for all peoples.
It reduces morbidity and mortality rate.
It empowers the people with knowledge and skill.
It guides the people regarding proper use of health
services.
It stimulate the individuals to achieve health
through their participation in health development
programmes.
It brings positive attitude among people towards
health.
It helps people to take rationale decision to solve
their own problems.
The Role of the Health Educator
Interpersonal health
behavior theories
Social
suppor
t
theorie
s
Components of communication

Source (sender)
• Originator of message
• Can be from an individual or groups, an institution or
organization.
• People are exposed to communication from different source
but most likely to accept a communication from a person or
organization that they trust i.e. has high source credibility.
• Depending on the community, trust and source credibility
may come from:
 Personal qualities or actions e.g. a health worker who always
comes out to help people at night.
Qualification and training
A person’s natural position in the family or community, e.g.
village chief or elder.
 The extent to which the source shares characteristics such as
culture, education, experiences
 Abstract
India is a significant contributor to the
world’s total burden of deafness. Out of
all causes, almost 50% of the causes of
decreased hearing are preventable. With
the launch of the National Programme
for Prevention and Control of Deafness,
the need for an effective information,
education and communication (IEC)
campaign was felt.
There is negligible information
available about the status of
awareness levels of the
community about the various
aspects of hearing loss.
We carried out this research with
the objective of getting to know
the existing awareness related to
hearing loss in the community to
generate an evidence base for
formulating various messages to
be incorporated in IEC materials
for dissemination in the
community.
We also asked the participants
about their suggestions for the
various information resources so
that an IEC campaign could be
designed accordingly.
Generating an Evidence Base
for Information, Education
and Communication Needs of
the Community Regarding
Deafness: A Qualitative
Study
 Characteristics of
effective communication

•All • The
barriers proper
have media
been has been
removed. chosen.
• Two – way • A good
communicat presenta
ion has tion has
been been
established.
made.
How to overcome barriers
of communication
• The sender must know his/her audience’s:
• Background
• Age and sex
• Social status
• Education
• Job/work
• Interests/problems/needs
• Language
• The messages must be:
• Timely
• Meaningful/relevant
• Applicable to the situation
Barriers to Effective
Communication
• Competition
for attention
(noise)

• Language
• Attitudes difference and
and Beliefs vocabulary
use

• Age
difference
Methods of Communication

Intra -
Personal
communic
ation

Inter -
Mass
Personal
communic
communic
ation
ation
 Mass communication

It is a means of transmitting

messages to a large audience
that usually reaches a large
segment of the population. It
uses mass media. Mass media
includes broadcast media (radio
and television) as well as print
media (newspapers, books,
leaflets and posters)
 
Intra-Personal communication

Ittakes place inside a person. It

includes the beliefs, feelings,
thoughts and justification we
make for our actions. E.g. a
person may look at an object and
develop a certain understanding.
However, this could be affected
by a number of factors including
previous experience, language,
culture, personal needs, etc.
Interpersonal Communication
Itmeans interaction between two
or more people who are together
at the same time and place. E.g.
between health extension worker
and community member, a
teacher and students in a class.
The decisive criterion for personal
communication is that
communication happens at the
same time and place.
Cont.
Effect and feedback
• Effect is the change in
receiver’s knowledge, attitude
and practice or behavior.
• Feedback is the mechanism of
assessing what has happened on
the receiver after
communication has occurred.
Cont.
Receiver (Audience)
• The person or a group for whom the communication is
intended
• The first step in planning any communication is to
consider the intended audience.
 Before communication, the following characteristics of
audiences should be analyzed.
• Educational factors: can they read? What type of
appeals might convince them?
• Sociocultural factors: What do they already believe and
feel about the topic of communication?
• Patterns of communication: how people show respect
when talking to another person? What time of the day
and which programs do they listen? Which places do they
pass that might be good places to put up posters?
Cont.
Channel
A Channel is a physical means by which
message travels from a source to a
receiver. The commonest types of
channels are verbal,visual, printed
materials or combined audio visual and
printed materials. Your choice of channel
will depend on what you are trying to
achieve, the nature of your audience
and what resources are at your disposal.
 
Cont.
Message
Itconsists of what is actually
communicated including the
actual appeals, words, and
pictures and sounds that you use
to get the ideas across. A
message will only be effective if
the advice presented is relevant,
appropriate, and acceptable and
put across in an understandable
way.
Cont.
Receiver. A person from a similar background to the
community is more likely to share the same language, ideas
and motivations and thus be a more effective communicator.
One of the main reasons for communication failure is when the
source comes from a different background from the receiver
and uses inappropriate message content and appeals. This
principle–that people who share similar backgrounds
communicate better with each other–has important
implications for health education. It explains why health
workers who are strangers to the local community are not
always effective in their health education work. Because of
this, the health extension package program
emphasizes recruitment of health extension workers from the
local community. This is particularly relevant in our country
where there is a huge diversified culture.
 
 Two-way
communication
As the message is more complex, two-
way communication becomes essential.
In this type of communication,
information flows from the source to
the receiver and back from the receiver
to the source. The addition of feedback
allows the sender to find out how the
message is being received and so it
can be monitored and adapted to
better suit
the receiver’s needs.
 Types of Communication

One-way communication
 
This is a linear type of communication in which
information flows from the source to the receiver.
There is no input (feed back) from the receiver. It
is commonly used in advertising; the message is
designed to persuade the receiver to take action
prescribed by the sender. The model is best used
by organizations when the message is simple and
needs to be communicated quickly, for example,
the date and time of a public meeting. There is no
opportunity to clear up misunderstanding and
meaning is controlled by the receiver
 Communication
Communication is the process of sharing of
ideas, information, knowledge, and experience
among people to take action. Communication
may take place between one person and
another, between an individual and a group or
between two groups. Communication facilitates
creation of awareness, acceptance and action
at individual, group and inter-group level. The
process always involves a sender and a
receiver regardless of the number of people
concerned.

 
Community level
models

2.
Social
plannin
g
1.locality
developm
ent
Intrapersonal health
behavior models
Health
belief
model

Social
learning
theory
Health education models and
theories

Intrapersonal Interpersonal Communit

 Cont .
The health educator should use terms that can
be immediately understood. Highly scientific
jargon should be avoided.
Health Education should start from the existing
indigenous knowledge and efforts should aim
at small changes in a graded fashion and not
be too ambitious. People will learn step by step
and not everything together. For every change
of behavior, a personal trail is required and
therefore the health education should provide
opportunities for trying out changed practices.
 
 Cont .
It must be remembered that people are not absolutely
without any information or ideas. The health educators
are not merely passing information but also give an
opportunity for the clients to analyze fresh ideas with
old ideas, compare with past experience and take
decisions that are found favorable and beneficial.
The grave danger with health education programs is
the pumping of all bulk of information in one exposure
or enthusiasm to give all possible information. Since it
is essentially a learning process, the process of
education should be done step-by-step and with due
attention to the different principles of communication.
Cont .
The health educators have to make
themselves acceptable. They should
realize that they are enablers and not
teachers. They have to win the
confidence of clients.
The health educators should not only
have correct information with them on
all matters that they have to discuss
but also should themselves practice
what they profess. Otherwise, they will
not enjoy credibility
Cont.
Health Education should provide an opportunity
for the clients to go through the stages of
identification of problems, planning,
implementation and evaluation. This is of special
importance in the health education of the
community where the identification of problems
and planning, implementing and evaluating are to
be done with full involvement of the community
to make it the community’s own program.
 health Education is based on scientific findings
and current knowledge. Therefore a health
educator should have recent scientific knowledge
to provide health education.
Cont.
It is necessary to have a free flow of
communication. The two way communication
is particularly of importance in health
education to help in getting proper feedback
and get doubt cleared.
The health educator has to adjust his talk and
action to suit the group for whom he has to
give health education. E.g. when the health
educator has to deal with illiterates and poor
people, he has to get down to their level of
conversation and human relationships so as
to reduce any social distance
Principles of health education
Allhealth education should be need based.
Therefore before involving any individual,
group or the community in health education
with a particular purpose or for a program
the need should be ascertained. It has to be
also specific and relevant to the problems
and available solutions.
Health education aims at change of
behavior. Therefore multidisciplinary
approach is necessary for understanding of
human behavior as well as for effective
teaching process.
Steps in developing IEC
Conduct a needs assessment: set the goal. This is a
broad statement of what you would like to see
accomplished with the target audience in the end.
Establish behavioral objectives that will contribute to
achieve the goal: develop the IEC activities and involve
as many others partners as possible.
Identify potential barriers and ways of overcoming them.
Establish an evaluation plan. The indicators should
determine the level of achievement of the behavioral
objectives. Having such specific indicators makes
evaluating and monitoring the progress and impact of the
activities much easier. Additionally, process indicators
could be established to track to what extent and how well
the planned activities have been carried out.