Some new studies carried out by USAID's Breakthrough Research Nigeria (BR-Nigeria) project have found that women are greatly influenced by men when making choices about seeking care and treatment for their sick children in study states in the North-West zone of Nigeria.
The studies also found that using an integrated behaviour change approach improved prompt treatment for fever, the uptake of malaria tests, antenatal care, and an increase in treatment adherence.
The findings of the social and behavioural change (SBC) research and evaluation project studies were presented by Breakthrough Research Nigeria Project during the end-of-project dissemination meeting in Abuja.
Experts said the findings will inform future health policies and programmes in Nigeria.
USAID Nigeria had invested in the research since 2019 to expand the evidence base on integrated, multi-component health programmes and to address priority programmatic research questions pertaining to behavioural change for maternal, newborn, child health, and nutrition (MNCH+N), family planning and reproductive health, and malaria.
Breakthrough Research Nigeria implemented the research and evaluation studies using quantitative and qualitative methodologies to respond to SBC questions on programme effectiveness and cost-effectiveness.
The studies addressed a range of behaviours such as antenatal care attendance, use of child spacing methods, use of insecticide-treated nets, and infant breastfeeding in Kebbi, Sokoto, and Zamfara states.
They examined behavioural trends among a consistent sample of approximately 3,000 women with children under the age of two, and their spouses, within wards targeted for SBC programme intervention in 2019, 2021 and 2022.
Laura Reichenbach, Breakthrough Research project director, Population Council Washington, said Breakthrough Research is USAID's global flagship social and behavioural change research and evaluation project.
It is led by the Population Council in collaboration with consortium partners: Tulane University, Avenir Health, ideas42, Population Reference Bureau (PRB) and the Institute for Reproductive Health at Georgetown University.
She said it also works closely with its sister project, Breakthrough Action, as well as other implementing partners working with SBC on service delivery.
She said the project's approach is to foster collaboration and shared learning to ensure SBC programmes are based on what works, elevate the impact of evidence-based SBC programmes and put evidence into practice.
USAID Deputy Mission Director, Sara Werth, said the collective studies generated valuable insight that would continue to inform and influence programmes and investments in newborn and child health, nutrition, family planning, reproductive health and malaria.
She said the survey findings from mothers with children under the age of two and their spouses shed light on an often-unheard perspective that offers important learning for future research.
She said, "For example, women whose spouses supported the decision to use formal health care services are more likely to make four or more antenatal visits, more likely to give birth in a health facility and three times more likely to have their child vaccinated against measles.
"The critical role of spouses in health decision-making showcases the importance of more robust engagement strategies focused on males as we work to improve maternal and newborn care."
Werth said Breakthrough Research has also led a range of qualitative assessments to generate evidence for the impact on the cost-effectiveness of social behaviour change interventions, adding that the survey also showed an increase in the uptake of antenatal care among women in North-West Nigeria and a reduction in mortality rates.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
She said the organisation looks forward to working with the health community in Nigeria to identify opportunities to fully use and translate the findings into public policy programs implementation and adaptation, and SBC activity designs.
The Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, who was represented by the director and head, health promotion division of the ministry, Ladidi Bako-Aiyegbusi, said the government would utilize the evidence generated from the studies.
The commissioner of health, Sokoto State, Alhaji Muhammad Abubakar Tambuwal, as well as the representatives of the commissioners of health in Kebbi and Zamfara states, thanked USAID for its investments in the health systems of their states.
They promised to use the findings for planning and decision-making in their states.
