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Communicating for Social and Behavioral Change: Reflections and Highlights on the IUPHE Global Conference in Brazil

“Authentic thinking, thinking that is concerned about reality, does not take place in ivory tower isolation, but only in communication.” (Paulo Freire, 1968) Brazil has a long-standing and rich tradition in communication. A tradition that is also exemplified by the work of 20 century educator and leading advocate of critical pedagogy, Paulo Freire (1921–1997). Freire is considered a key influencer on the theory and practice of participatory communication for health and social change. In fact, “during the 1950s, experiences with participatory communication first appeared” when Freire “worked with adult literacy campaigns among the poor peasants in Northeastern Brazil. Freire’s original literacywork empowered landless peasants to formulate their own demands” for a better and healthier life. “From this experience, he grew into one of the most influential proponents for participatory communication theory and practice. Central to this line of thinking was the emphasis on letting the stakeholders get involved in the development process and determine the outcome, rather than imposing a pre-established (i.e. already decided by external actors) outcome.” Brazil was also the venue of the recent 22 IUPHE World Conference on Health Promotion (Curitiba, Brazil, May 22–26, 2016), which I was pleased to attend to share some of my own work. Organized by the International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUPHE), this triennial conference attracts an averageof 2,000+ participants fromdifferent regions of theworld. The theme this year, promoting health and equity, resonates with Freire’s teachings and reminds us all of his sharp emphasis on including underserved and vulnerable populations in equity-driven processes. These ideas were also reflected in a few of the communication sessions at the conference. For example, the concepts of equity, inclusiveness, and community engagement were central to the UNICEF-led sub-plenary session, Health promotion and communication responses to disease outbreaks – lessons from “Getting to Zero Ebola” and polio eradication, in which I had the honor to participate alongside UNICEF colleagues. All case studies, lessons learned, and data discussed as part of this session strongly pointed to the importance of a participatory and community-driven approach to communication and development to make sure communities are ready to respond and can successfully address the kinds of health and social threats posed by epidemics and disease outbreaks. There is no shortage of planning models for social and behavior change communication and development supporting the integration of community engagement in risk communication. Of equal importance, a community-centered approach, which supports community ownership of the communication process, is associated with community resilience. This approach is also likely to improve the sustainability of all interventions and related outcomes (e.g., the flow of goods and services that may be needed at the time of an epidemic or behavioral and social gains toward improved outcomes, etc.) by addressing key barriers to outbreak control and disease mitigation as identified by community members and other stakeholders. A session on listening to the people as an approach to encourage participation in community health interventions also reinforced the idea of community ownership as related to other health and disease areas.