Social & Behavior Change

Embedding social and behavior change for sexual and reproductive health and rights

Pathfinder’s social and behavior change work seeks to empower individuals and communities, addressing structural barriers that keep people marginalized. Pathfinder’s social and behavior change approach looks at the complex structures that drive poor health outcomes, addressing individual, social, and structural barriers.

Pathfinder’s approaches includes behavior change communication, psychology, human-centered design, anthropology, behavioral economics, social marketing and other behavioral sciences.

Growing Individual Agency and Shifting Perceptions

Pathfinder programs help individuals by shifting attitudes, enhancing personal agency, and shifting perceptions of social and gender norms related to these behaviors. To facilitate individuals in transitioning from intention to action, our programs focus on improving individual knowledge and skills, reducing environmental constraints, and creating salience for health-promoting SRHR behaviors for individuals and their influencers.

 Transforming Social and Gender Norms

Pathfinder’s social and behavior change approach works to examine the broad structures that uphold unequal gender norms. Pathfinder programs deploy communication and engagement strategies aimed at promoting beliefs that support informed SRHR decision making among individuals and their influencers at the household, community, and institutional levels.

Addressing Institutional and Structural Factors that Enable Healthy Decision Making Among Individuals, Households, and Communities

Programs use a participatory approach to support Social Behavior Change (SBC) at all levels of the social-ecological context. SBC strategies mobilize key household and community influencers to publicly champion positive social and cultural norms supporting the right for all to access sexual and reproductive health and rights. Strategic components that focus on greater community ownership and promote favorable local institutional policies and political and social accountability support and strengthen these outcomes.

Countries using this approach

Bangladesh

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Côte d’Ivoire

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Egypt

Ethiopia

India

Niger

Nigeria

Pakistan

Featured Projects

Preventing Child Marriage in Cabo Delgado

Preventing Child Marriage in Cabo Delgado improves the lives and livelihoods of adolescent girls and young women by reducing child,…

USAID Kulawa

Health Services Delivery Activity in Niger USAID Kuwala improves health, family planning, and nutrition outcomes in Niger’s Maradi, Zinder, and…

YUVAA: Youth Voices for Agency and Access

Combining social entrepreneurship and innovative communication approaches, YUVVA improves access to contraceptive choices and positively shifts gender and social norms…

USAID/Egypt Women’s Economic and Social Empowerment Program

For nearly 40 years, Pathfinder has partnered with the Government of Egypt to advance reproductive health and rights, economic opportunity,…

USAID/Uganda Family Planning Activity

Pathfinder is implementing the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Uganda Family Planning Activity that will address underlying social, cultural,…