Social and Behavior Change and the Next Big Thing: Mainstreaming SBC to Solve the World’s Hardest Problems
July 25th, 2024 | viewpoint
Aaron Musimenta presents on leveraging behavioral science for malaria prevention at the SBC Summit watch party in Kampala, Uganda. Photo: JSI
This piece was developed with contributions from Richard Adupong, SBC and communications advisor; Brian Mdawida, SBC integration advisor; and Christina Wakefield, senior advisor, SBC
“In recent years, social and behavior change has become increasingly relevant, professionalized, and evidence-driven. Our field knows how to do SBC well. But we need to stop focusing on short-term investments in SBC independent of other public health efforts. We need to move SBC out of its silo and mainstream the use of social and behavioral sciences to tackle our world’s hardest problems and better use our existing solutions.” — Brian Mdawida, Senior SBC Lead, USAID Nawiri Project/JSI Behavior Initiative.
Brian and a large delegation of colleagues from JSI’s Behavior Initiative representing 10 African countries recently showcased JSI’s work in a panel discussion titled, “What’s the Next Big Thing for SBC?” during the African Society for SBC Summit, held virtually from July 2–5.
Today’s world is marked by environmental, humanitarian, and political crises unfolding alongside dazzling achievements in the arts, technology, medicine, and science — and human behavior drives both these crises and achievements. Solving our problems and catalyzing progress therefore requires social and behavior change (SBC), but to be effective, it cannot remain in a silo. What then is the next big thing for SBC? For JSI, it is applying SBC to challenges and priorities beyond those considered explicitly behavioral in nature.
