Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2014;19 Suppl 1(sup1):89-121.
doi: 10.1080/10810730.2014.939313.

The role of health systems and policy in producing behavior and social change to enhance child survival and development in low- and middle-income countries: an examination of the evidence

Luis F Vélez  1 , Mary Sanitato, Donna Barry, Martin Alilio, Franklin Apfel, Gloria Coe, Amparo Garcia, Michelle Kaufman, Jonathan Klein, Vesna Kutlesic, Lisa Meadowcroft, Wendy Nilsen, Gael O'Sullivan, Stefan Peterson, Daniel Raiten, Susan Vorkoper
Affiliations
Free PMC article
Review

The role of health systems and policy in producing behavior and social change to enhance child survival and development in low- and middle-income countries: an examination of the evidence

Luis F Vélez et al. J Health Commun. 2014.
Free PMC article

Abstract

Evidence-based behavior change interventions addressing health systems must be identified and disseminated to improve child health outcomes. Studies of the efficacy of such interventions were identified from systematic searches of the published literature. Two hundred twenty-nine of the initially identified references were judged to be relevant and were further reviewed for the quality and strength of the evidence. Studies were eligible if an intervention addressed policy or health systems interventions, measured relevant behavioral or health outcomes (e.g., nutrition, childhood immunization, malaria prevention and treatment), used at least a moderate quality research design, and were implemented in low- or middle-income countries. Policy or systems interventions able to produce behavior change reviewed included media (e.g., mass media, social media), community mobilization, educational programs (for caregivers, communities, or providers), social marketing, opinion leadership, economic incentives (for both caregiver and provider), health systems strengthening/policy/legislation, and others. Recommendations for policy, practice, and research are given based on fairly strong data across the areas of health service delivery, health workforce, health financing, governance and leadership, and research.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Abel , R. (1992). RUHSA: A model primary health care programme. Journal of Tropical Pediatrics, 38, 270–273 - PubMed
    1. Aboud , F. , & Signla , D. (2012). Challenges to changing health behaviors in developing countries: A critical overview. Social Science & Medicine, 75, 589–594 - PubMed
    1. Akhtar , P. C. , Currie , D. B. , Currie , C. E. , & Haw , S. J. (2007). Changes in Child Exposure to Environmental Tobacco Smoke (CHETS) study after implementation of smoke-free legislation in Scotland: National cross-sectional survey. BMJ, 335, 545. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Akhtar , P. C. , Haw , S. J. , Currie , D. B. , Zachary , R. , & Currie , C. E. (2009). Smoking restrictions in the home and secondhand smoke exposure among primary schoolchildren before and after introduction of the Scottish smoke-free legislation. Tobacco Control, 18, 409–415 - PubMed
    1. Akter , S. F. U. , Heller , R. D. , Smith , A. J. , & Milly , A. F. (2009). Impact of a training intervention on use of antimicrobials in teaching hospitals. Journal of Infection in Developing Countries, 3, 447–451 - PubMed

Publication types