SBC Forum Explores Successes, Lessons and Sustainability of Social Behavior Change during COVID-19

When it comes to facilitating successful behavior change, what factors should be considered? In their book “Switch: How to change things when change is hard,” Chip and Dan Heath wrote: “To change behavior, you’ve got to direct the Rider, motivate the Elephant, and shape the Path. If you can do all three at once, dramatic change can happen even if you don’t have lots of power or resources behind you.”

The Elephant-Rider-Path is a behavior change analogy introduced by psychologist Jonathan Haidt. This model was in the spotlight during the Social and Behavior Change (SBC) Forum hosted on October 7, 2020 by the National Centre for Health Promotion (NCHP) with support from USAID/Cambodia Promoting Healthy Behaviors Activity (Cambodia PHB) project. With the theme “COVID-19 in Cambodia: Exploring Successes, Lessons and Sustainability of Social and Behavior Change,” the forum aimed to strengthen the coordination and networking/communicating among SBC practitioners and share experience and lessons learned on social behavior change related to COVID-19 using the Elephant-Rider-Path framework.

Save the Children’s DRR/CCA Manager Chanborith Ros who is one of the speakers at the Forum highlighted the emotional side of behavior change. He said, “According to our global research, more than 8 in 10 children (83%) and 7 in 10 parents/caregivers (70%) reported an increase in negative feelings during the pandemic.” He talked about understanding and motivating the elephant, which in this case is the emotional side of children and caregivers. He gave examples of what Save the Children is doing to address those issues using various approaches, including animation, games, storybooks, and more.

The rider is a metaphor of knowledge. With the right and clear messages, people can gain knowledge on how to effectively protect themselves against COVID-19. This was addressed by Savy Bou, Communication and Development Officer and one of the speakers at the forum. She gave examples of the collaboration with the Ministry of Health to quickly select and share COVID-19 prevention messages widely across the country. She reiterated that the right message at the right time from the right messenger through the right medium can save lives.

However, disseminating knowledge without creating a better environment where people can easily apply this knowledge cannot make behavior change a reality. Sophanara Mik, SBC Coordinator at PSI, spoke about how the Long Life Success Campaign helped facilitate the path toward behavior change. The campaign encourages people in the community to build a simple and affordable hand-washing station at their home. Within one month of the campaign, 145 hand-washing stations were built. He said that when people have a handwashing station at the front of their house, they provide their guests and family members the opportunity to wash their hands before entering the house, making people more likely to adopt this behavior in the long run.

The Elephant-Rider-Path is not the only model out there, but by discussing this approach, the forum reminded all SBC practitioners that to make behavior change sustainable, you must have strategic approaches and select useful tools in order to identify and understand barriers and opportunities for promoting healthy behaviors.

The SBC forum comes at a timely moment for Cambodia where we have seen great cooperation in every sector in fighting COVID-19 and a new focus on behavior change where people have to live in the new normal. In her speech, Dr. Chhea Chhordaphea, NCHP Director, shared her observation of the three important points which makes the effort of combating COVID-19 in Cambodia stand out: (1) an understanding and focus on the importance of behavior change related to COVID-19 at all level of authority and in every province; (2) good leadership in conducting behavior change interventions by the authority in cooperation with provincial health departments; (3) great cooperation among stakeholders.

She expressed her gratitude for the cooperation and added that in addition to helping improve the implementation of sustainable social behavior change through strengthening the coordination and networking among SBC practitioners, “this forum will serve as a platform for SBC practitioners, whether they work in COVID-19, malaria or TB, to think about what barriers and opportunities in their work are: Is it the rider, the elephant or the path?”

*The USAID/Cambodia Promoting Healthy Behaviors Activity (Cambodia PHB) project is a five-year, USAID-funded, social and behavior change project (2018-2023) being directly implemented by Population Services International (PSI). The goal of Cambodia PHB Activity is to improve health behaviors among Cambodians and ensure they seek and receive quality healthcare with decreased financial hardship. PHB targets 6 key health areas: maternal & child health; nutrition; water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); tuberculosis; family planning; and malaria. Cambodia PHB Activity is working with partners in Phnom Penh, Kampong Chhnang, Kampong Cham, Tbong Khmum, Battambang, and Pailin.