Social Behavior Change Programming for Public Health Emergencies: Lessons Learned from the USAID Zika Response in Latin America and the Caribbean
This brief provides insights from the social and behavior change (SBC) line of effort during the 2016-2019 Zika response when USAID and its implementing partners collaborated closely with national health ministries and local stakeholders in Latin America and the Caribbean.
It describes strengths, weaknesses, gaps, and challenges, and highlights seven key recommendations that future public health emergency responses should incorporate to safeguard the health and well-being of people around the world.
The brief offers seven core lessons:
- Coordinate with SBC stakeholders at all levels early and often.
- Determine priority preventive behaviors through a participatory process with all stakeholders at the beginning of the response.
- Integrate SBC into other technical areas.
- Engage community members to develop context-appropriate solutions through participatory design methods.
- Identify and mobilize SBC expertise at all levels to ensure availability of skills to implement effective SBC programming.
- Prioritize formative research from the beginning of a response.
- Coordinate monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning activities.

- Strengthening the USAID Zika Response: Experiences from the Zika Social and Behavior Change Working Group
- Lessons Learned for SBC Programming from the USAID Zika Response
- The Importance of Social and Behavioral Change Response in the Zika Outbreak: Lessons Learned from Ebola
- Using Media and Communication to Respond to Public Health Emergencies: Lessons Learned from Ebola
- Zika Virus Global Emergency Response Plan
- Zika Communication Network
- Technical Specifications Content Guide for Behaviors with High Potential to Prevent Zika
- Behavior Prioritization to Improve SBC Programming During a Public Health Emergency: A Call To Action
- Using Media and Communication to Respond to Public Health Emergencies: Lessons Learned from Ebola
- The SBCC Emergency Helix
- Empowering Communities to Fight Zika: Capacity Strengthening During the Zika Outbreak Response
- Perceptions About Zika-related Prevention Behaviors in the Dominican Republic: Findings and Implications from a Qualitative Study
- Programmatic Implications of Zika-Related Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices
- Evidence-Based Prioritization Process to Identify Behaviors for Zika Prevention
- Capacity Strengthening During the Zika Outbreak Response: Empowering Communities to Fight Zika
April 13, 2020