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Development of a social marketing strategy to promote Ebola treatment-seeking behaviour in Sierra Leone
This study took an applied anthropological approach, first examining community perceptions of current Ebola messages and the broader Ebola response, and then developing Ebola treatment-seeking messages that respond to people’s concerns. These messages were then validated in a further, short round of field work, and refined and disseminated to key in-country stakeholders for use.
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Principal Investigator: John Kinsman, Umeå University, Sweden
What did the study set out to achieve?
This study took an applied anthropological approach, first examining community perceptions of current Ebola messages and the broader Ebola response, and then developing Ebola treatment-seeking messages that respond to people’s concerns.
The project developed a set of gender-sensitive and urban-rural-specific Ebola messages, with accompanying messengers and channels. These were field-tested and amended accordingly to create a final messaging document. This was presented to the Ministry of Health and Sanitation, representatives from NERC and the Social Mobilisation Pillar, UN agencies, and a number of NGOs. A database of visual Ebola messages used in the country was also built.
John Kinsman
Associate Professor, Umeå University
We are delighted that the timing worked so well, and that we are able to contribute substantively to such a critical national mobilization event
What were the key findings?
The study found that the majority of the messages are in English, which is particularly striking in a country with very high illiteracy rates (UNICEF estimates the total adult literacy rate to be 43%). The predominance of English also serves as a reminder that much of the Ebola response has been driven by non-Sierra Leoneans. The research identified a range of areas of real concern that people have about the Ebola response. The study identified strong feelings towards ambulance drivers and burial teams, both of which were perceived, especially early in the epidemic, as being insensitive towards patients and corpses respectively.
The study noted that people disliked the chlorine that has been such an integral part of the Ebola response, and there were many informants who believed that chlorine has been deliberately used to kill people. These apparently widely held feelings have acted as strong barriers to Ebola treatment-seeking behaviour.
The research also found that the messengers and the channels needed to be carefully considered according to the target population. For example, chiefs and town criers were seen as being far more relevant channels for rural populations than for urban populations; while social media were seen as attractive for urban youth.
As part of a project aimed at developing messages promoting Ebola treatmentseeking behavior in Sierra Leone, Associate Professor John Kinsman from Umeå University in Sweden travelled to Sierra Leone to work with his partners
A presentation was made to the National Ebola Response Centre (NERC) Daily Briefing directly after the strategy development workshop in March 2015, including a draft set of messages and associated channels and messengers, along with associated operational issues. These were well received, and the team was asked to immediately draw up messages that could be used in the country during the 3-day lockdown the following weekend.
R2HC Funding for Ebola Projects. A Rapid Response
In August 2014, the Ebola Outbreak in West Africa was declared an International Health Emergency by WHO and within a couple of weeks ELRHA launched a rapid-response call for research to combat the crisis. The UK Department for International Development (DFID), the Wellcome Trust and ELRHA opened a special funding window through the Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises (R2HC) programme.
The aim of this emergency call was both to produce robust research findings that could contribute to the effectiveness of the response to the current outbreak and help to draw lessons for future outbreaks of Ebola and other communicable diseases. The projects funded will strengthen the evidence base for the Ebola response in topics ranging from diagnostics to anthropology, surveillance and disease control.
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