Harnessing the Potential of. The ABCs of using social network approaches to design and evaluate health & development programs.

The ABCs of using

social network

approaches to

design and

evaluate health &

development

programs

Harnessing the Potential of

Social Networks

Overview

1. What is social network analysis (SNA)?

2. SNA and intervention design

3. SNA-based intervention planning 4. SNA and monitoring & evaluation

A theoretical perspective applied to research and programs

• _{Recognizes that individuals interact with, learn from,}

and get information from other people

• Focuses on relationships, not individuals

Social network analysis: What is it?

“Who delivers the message, and in what

interpersonal context, may be just as, if no more important, than the message itself, and may result in better, more relevant, and perhaps more effective programs.”

Social Network Analysis: Theory and

Methods

• Views world as nodes and connectors

• Key technique in sociology, anthropology, biology,

communications, information science

Network grid

For women, probe on: husband, mother, mother-in-law, co-wives

Entire social network in one village in Bandiagara: Influence

Womens Mens

Nominated

Distinguishing characteristics of SNA

Network Analysis Traditional Analysis

Unit of analysis

Structure of ties affects individuals and their relationships

Individuals and their attributes

Determinants of behavior

Structure and

composition of ties

Socialization into norms Metrics Betweeness, centrality,

cohesion, density

Characteristics, attitudes, behaviors

Presentation/ analysis

Why a social network focus?

• Women and men make

decisions not as individuals but as actors in a social system.

• _{Social structures are resources}

to diffuse and support innovations

SOCIETY

COMMUNITY

RELATIONSHIPS

How do networks support diffusion?

10

Social networks influence diffusion

through….

Social learning

Network members exchange ideas and information; and

evaluate the relative benefits of innovation Social influence Network members follow norms of gatekeepers to gain approval and avoid conflict.

Networks and Adoption

Adoption is higher when an individual is:

- Highly interconnected

- Centrally located in their network

- In a network with others who support and

practice the innovation

- In an open network that supports exposure to

Overview

1. What is social network analysis (SNA)?

2. SNA and intervention design

3. SNA-based intervention planning 4. SNA and monitoring & evaluation

How do SN interventions differ from

conventional outreach approaches?

• _{Focused on changing flow of information and}

social influence, rather than on individual behavior

• Address social norms rather than practices

• Work through informal as well as formal leaders to diffuse change through networks

• Use influencers/connectors to inform, facilitate comparison, filter conflicting information and model attitudes/behaviors

Using social networks for learning and

influence

1. Opinion Leaders / Leaders Influents

2. Strategically Targeted Groups / Groupes Stratégiquement Ciblé

3. Leaders of Established Groups / Leaders des groupes établis

4. Snowball Approach / Chacun invite trois

5. Bridges and Connectors / Liaison & connecteurs

6. Rewiring linkages, ties / Reconfiguration de liens

1. Engaging Opinion Leaders

What it is:

• Working with individuals who have formal power (religious leaders, clan leaders,

elected officials)

• Work with supporters or transform negative opinions into positive ones

Considerations:

• Legitimizes innovation

• Role models

• Addressing norms leads to sustainable change

2. Working with strategically

selected groups

2. Strategically Targeted Groups

What it is:

• Designing an intervention to be implemented by or within the group

• Example: Field workers lead FP discussions during water and sanitation committee

meetings

Considerations:

• Information travels easily throughout group

• Builds on existing connections

• Reinforce/support new behaviors

3. Working with Leaders of Established

Groups

3. Leaders of Established Groups

What it is:

• Work with leader of group, who in turn, coordinates/leads the group intervention

• Example: Leaders of women’s savings and loans associations trained in FP and asked to discuss during group meetings

Considerations:

• Depends on leader’s persuasiveness

4. Snowball Approach

What it is:

• One individual informs/influences/invites two friends. Those two individuals reach their friends and so on.

• Example: Chacun invite trois , peer educators

Considerations:

• Effective in reaching “hard-to-reach” groups

• Participants “own” intervention

5. Activating & Supporting Bridges

and Connectors

What it is:

• Intervene through individuals who interact with two or more unconnected groups

• Create or break bridge ties to strengthen or weaken information diffusion

• Example: CBD workers bridges clinics and

clients, mothers-in-law bridge FP information to daughter-in-law

Considerations:

• Can diffuse information between groups

6. Rewiring Linkages or Ties

What it is:

• Purposely connecting individuals who would otherwise not interact with each other

• Example: creating elder learning groups to

connect women elders; connecting MOH staff in different technical areas by rearranging

office space

Considerations:

• Strengthens communication flow

• Difficult to purposively change current network

Application of SNA: Study and Plan

Assess Determine who has most risk

Learn who is marginalized and how to reach them Program design:

Who

Identify leaders, alternative role models. advocates

Identify who people feel comfortable talking with Identify cliques

Program design: What

Identify information sources and flow Assess quality of communication

Program Monitoring

Assess how information flows Map community changes

Application of SNA: Act

Strengthen relationships and communication

• Map networks and create linkages to services

• Develop referral systems

Build community support • Build support for and incorporate marginalized

Social Networks in Action: Youth Peer

Program

Provide multiple role models and ensure diffusion throughout the network

Selection of peer leaders

− with highest # of nomination − who represent cliques

− who are bridges

Social Networks in Action:

NGO/AIDS and Youth Networks

Map NGOs

• who they reach, services, activities

Assessment

• Reliance on central coordinating bodies

• Need to decentralize to smaller sub-networks

• Few youth/minority serving organizations

Strategy:

• Build networks of youth organizations beyond NGO/AIDS

Overview

1. What is social network analysis (SNA)? 2. SNA and intervention design

3. SNA-based intervention planning

Project TJ Example:

Process for designing SN interventions

1. Formative research identifies structure of social networks and FP attitudes of network members

2. Visioning exercise 3. Define intervention

goals and objectives

How will the community be different as a result of this

program?

What will you see and hear as you walk through the community in five years?

Design Process (cont.)

4. Develop criteria for selecting SN intervention

• Example: scalable, build on existing networks,

gender perspective, potential for sustained change

5. Brainstorm interventions (using resources such as research results, selection criteria, taxonomy of SN

approaches)

• Identify problem to address (e.g. male opposition)

• Brainstorm SN intervention approaches

• Prioritize/select intervention(s)

Tool: Social Network Design Grid

Teas with mothers-in-laws

Activity-based discussions facilitated by animators

MILs talk with others

Snowball Grin members via social leader • Grin members • Their wives • Other male friends

Animators catalyze reflective dialogs with grin leaders

Request to talk with others

Informal leaders of groups Snowball MOH supervisors and CHWs • Male social groups

CHWs visit grins and give clinic tour

Reconfiguring networks

Problem: FP use among newly married couples considered unacceptable

Overview

1. What is social network analysis (SNA)? 2. SNA and intervention design

3. SNA-based intervention planning

Theoretical considerations for

measuring innovation diffusion

•

Need to monitor implementation

and change at multiple levels

•

Theory of change draws from:

•

Individual behavior change models

(Health Belief Model,

Trans-theoretical)

•

Ecological models

Social network approaches to

monitoring and evaluation

Monitoring  Include process indicators related to networks 36 Methods • Ego-centric mapping conducted with a representative sample generalizable to entire population • Measure changes in network structure and member attitudes

Socio-centric network mapping

harness social learning and influence

Ego-centered network mapping

1. Measures the effect of interventions on individual

knowledge, attitudes and practices

2. Identifies changes in the way information and influence diffuse 3. representative

sample generalizable to entire population

Network properties Flow of fertility/FP info through network partners Mean/% of network Size and composition of women’s network % who report network partners use FP Social factors Perception that husband and network partners support FP Couple communication (index score) Woman/couple efficacy for FP use Community catalyzing capacity Ownership/ participation among members to interventions % of members with favorable attitudes Cohesive social network supporting FP use Individual changes Use of FP services Men/women with unmet need Proportion of segments p/year

with met need for effective FP

Method continuation

40 http://tinyurl.com/terikunda-jekulu