Percent of audience who believe that the recommended practice/product will reduce their risk

Percent of audience who believe that the recommended practice/product will reduce their risk

Percent of audience who believe that the recommended practice/product will reduce their risk

The percent of the target audience surveyed who believe that the recommended practice (e.g., using a modern family planning method, waiting at least two years before getting pregnant again, or attending antenatal care visits) or product (e.g., condoms to prevent pregnancy and/or sexually transmitted infections, bed nets for malaria control, or prenatal vitamins to support a healthy pregnancy), which accompanies a recommended practice, will reduce their personal risk for adverse health outcomes. “Audience” is defined as the intended population for the program. “Practice” refers to the desired behavior the program is trying to promote among members of the intended population.

Depending on the need for a yes/no response, or if the responses lend themselves to more flexibility, evaluators may want to use a five-point Likert scale to decide whether to combine “strongly believe” with “somewhat believe” to arrive at the total percentage believing the recommended practice/product will reduce their risk.

This indicator is calculated as:

(Number who believe that the recommended practice/product will reduce their risk / Total number surveyed in intended audience) x 100

Data Requirement(s):

Self-reports among intended audience that they believe the recommended practice/product will reduce their risk

This indicator can be disaggregated by audience characteristics (e.g., age, sex, geographic location, rural/urban status, or other characteristics of interest to the program).

National, regional, or local sample surveys with members of the intended audience; focus group discussion; in-depth interviews

This qualitative indicator measures the effectiveness of the early stages of a behavior change communication strategy in making the public aware of the benefits of a certain practice.  When looking at the process of behavior change and the Stages of Change Continuum (FHI, 2004), before behavior change can occur, people must first become knowledgeable about the change that needs to happen and believe that they will personally benefit from adopting that change.

This is a precursor to another key behavior change communication  indicator, Percent of non-users who intend to adopt a certain practice in the future.

As with intent, developing a positive attitude toward a practice or being convinced that the recommended behavior or product will reduce one’s risk does not necessarily translate into future behavior change.  For example, if the message to unmarried, adolescent girls is not to engage in sexual relations with much older men because it contributes to the spread of HIV, the target audience may come to believe that avoiding age-mixing will reduce their risk of HIV infection, however, due to other economic, social, and even familial pressures, they may still be involved in these relationships and even seek them out.

communication, attitude, behavior

FHI.  Monitoring HIV/AIDS Programs: A Facilitator’s Training Guide.  Module 6: Monitoring and Evaluating Behavior Change Communication Programs. 2004.