Practicum on Monitoring and Evaluation of Health Communication Programs (Jun 2-4 2014)

The African Network for Strategic Communication in Health and Development (AfriComNet) is hosting a Practicum on Monitoring and Evaluation of Health Communication Programs. The purpose of the Practicum is to:

• gain understanding of social and behaviour change communication monitoring and evaluation practice and challenges;
• share experiences in the application of monitoring and evaluation methodologies for health communication programming; and
• identify gaps and propose recommendations for improving health communication monitoring and evaluation.

The practicum will address topics such as how health communication strategy design influences monitoring and evaluation plans; the use of behaviour change theories/models to guide evaluation planning; using evaluation and monitoring data to inform programme strategies; using health communication research to test theories; and effectively disseminating and using evidence and findings to improve the science of health communication.

According to AfriComNet, the practicum will bring together communication programme implementers, researchers, donors and other stakeholders from the private and public sector to share experiences, methodologies, tools, and understanding of social and behaviour change communication theory, monitoring, and evaluation. During the meeting, participants will explore pertinent issues such as meaningful indicators of programme effectiveness, differences between monitoring and real time reporting, options for rapid turn-around evaluation methodologies, and the requirements for rigorous causal attribution. The practicum will also cover other basic aspects of health communication evaluation including types of evaluation (e.g. formative, process, and impact), reasons for investment in evaluation, options for evaluating programmes with limited funding, monitoring techniques used in the private sector, and more.

Click here for more information about the event.

Registration information:

AfriComNet is calling for abstracts in six tracks:

• Health communication monitoring: indicators, data collection systems, and data utilisation
• Evaluating health communication outcomes and impact: methodologies and tools
• Innovation in health communication monitoring and evaluation (eg. ICT and mobile technology solutions, community-based data collection)
• Health communication research to test behavioural theories in particular settings
• Harnessing and disseminating current evidence, using findings to improve programming and effective dissemination approaches
• Using data for decision making

Mostly participants from Africa, including health communication programme managers, donors, researchers, private sector market researchers, and other stakeholders from both public and private sectors are invited to submit their abstracts in English to abstracts@africomnet.org.


Deadline Date for Abstracts: March 31 2014.

Deadline Date for Registration: April 14 2014.

Click here for more information about the call for abstracts.

Click here to register online.