Many countries are experiencing a growing demand for the integration of family planning and HIV (FP/HIV) services. Advocacy and communication activities are essential to ensuring that community leaders, policy makers, program managers, and others understand the issues and opportunities related to improving access to quality services through FP/HIV integration. Also, clients need to understand what services are available to them, the health benefits of receiving HIV and family planning services, and what health behaviors they must adopt to prevent HIV infection and/or unintended pregnancy.

The Communication & Advocacy section of the Family Planning and HIV Services Integration Toolkit contains materials that detail advocacy activities and communication strategies. This section also includes supporting materials to address the information needs of policy makers, program managers, and service providers for building a supportive environment for FP/HIV integration. Click on the links below to access information on the following topics:

Advocacy: action that aims to influence reproductive health or HIV-related attitudes, laws, policies, or practices, usually directed at decision makers. Advocacy actions can include, but are not limited to, documenting and sharing the effects of a problem or policy decision; developing relationships with key decision makers; participating in forums, hearings, and key meetings; and using social or mass media to convey messages.

Health Communication: information, education, and communication (IEC) and behavior change communication (BCC) efforts involve working with individuals, communities, and societies to develop context-appropriate, multilevel communication strategies to promote healthful behaviors such as the practice of dual protection. IEC and BCC channels include the mass media; interpersonal communication, such as provider-client or peer-to-peer counseling; and community-based channels, such as household outreach, street theater, or local radio. Provision of a supportive environment that will enable people to access integrated services and sustain safer behaviors is essential to the success of any health communication effort. 

According to the INFO Project’s Population Report, “Communication for Better Health,” effective health communication programs can:

• Increase awareness and knowledge of a health problem and its solution
• Demonstrate or depict healthy behavior
• Improve skills and sense of self-efficacy
• Reinforce healthy knowledge, attitudes, and behavior
• Show the benefits of adopting healthy behavior
• Help shift social norms to encourage more healthy behavior
• Advocate a position on a health issue or policy
• Increase demand or support for health services
• Refute myths and correct misunderstanding
• Change perceptions of risk
• Prompt individual and community behavior change

Do you have a comment about this section or would you like to suggest a new resource or communication topic? Please share your feedback by emailing us at toolkits@k4health.org or posting on our discussion board.