title: The Saturation+ Approach to Behavior Change: Case Study of a Child Survival Radio Campaign in Burkina Faso.
abstract: A 35-month cluster randomized controlled trial was conducted in Burkina Faso to test whether a radio campaign focused on child health, broadcast between March 2012 and January 2015, could reduce under-5 mortality. This paper describes the design and implementation of the mass media intervention in detail, including the Saturation+ principles that underpinned the approach, the creative process, the lessons learned, and recommendations for implementing this intervention at scale. The Saturation+ approach focuses on the 3 core principles of saturation (ensuring high exposure to campaign messages), science (basing campaign design on data and modeling), and stories (focusing the dramatic climax on the target behavior) to maximize the impact of behavior change campaigns. In Burkina Faso, creative partnerships with local radio stations helped us obtain free airtime in exchange for training and investing in alternative energy supplies to solve frequent energy problems faced by the stations. The campaign used both short spots and longer drama formats, but we consider the short spots as a higher priority to retain during scale-up, as they are more cost-effective than longer formats and have the potential to ensure higher exposure of the population to the messages. The implementation research synthesized in this paper is designed to enable the effective adoption and integration of evidence-based behavior change communication interventions into health care policy and practice.
authors.affiliation: Development Media International, London, UK.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Murray
authors.affiliation: Development Media International, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
authors.forename: Pieter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Remes
authors.affiliation: Development Media International, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ilboudo
authors.affiliation: Development Media International, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
authors.forename: Mireille
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Belem
authors.affiliation: Development Media International, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
authors.forename: Souleymane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Salouka
authors.affiliation: Development Media International, London, UK.
authors.forename: Will
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Snell
authors.affiliation: Development Media International, London, UK.
authors.forename: Cathryn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.affiliation: Development Media International, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lavoie
authors.affiliation: Development Media International, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Deboise
authors.affiliation: Development Media International, London, UK.
authors.forename: Roy
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Head
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002050:Burkina Faso; D002648:Child; D000067576:Child Health; D046688:Child Mortality; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003142:Communication; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006291:Health Policy; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007226:Infant Mortality; D008402:Mass Media; D011845:Radio