Social and Behaviour Change Communication Approaches Certificate Course

Soul City and the University of Witwatersrand, School of Public Health have collaborated in the development and launch of a new concentration in social and behaviour change communication (SBCC) within the University of Witwatersrand's Masters of Public Health programme.

Seeking to develop critical SBCC competencies (knowledge, skills, values) among participants, the full syllabus of the programme includes five units that reflect recommendations emanated from a Consultative Meeting held in January 2009 at the University of Witwatersrand, with the participation of academics and professionals with relevant experience in SBCC+. These units also reflect main competency areas of a series of training modules that C-Change has developed for short-term face-to-face and online training. Each unit is also offerred as a Certificate Course.

The Social and Behaviour Change Communication unit will develop capacity in understanding the evidence-base for approaches that aim to influence the social and behavioural determinants of health including advocacy, social mobilisation, edutainment, and social marketing. The course will address the principles and processes for each approach. These approaches will be applied to address a current health issue like HIV prevention or substance use.