Effective communication activities are key to raising awareness about and acceptance of injectable contraceptives, motivating individuals to seek injectables, and helping clients to successfully use injectables.

Health Communication

Health communication encompasses information, education, and communication (IEC) and behavior change communication (BCC) efforts involve working with individuals, communities, and societies to develop context-appropriate, multilevel communication strategies to promote healthful behaviors such as the use of injectable contraceptives for family planning. IEC and BCC channels include the mass media; interpersonal communication, such as provider-client or peer-to-peer counseling; and community-based channels, such as household outreach, street theater, or local radio. Provision of a supportive environment that will enable people to access integrated services and sustain safer behaviors is essential to the success of any health communication effort. 

Advocacy

Family planning advocates aim to influence reproductive health or family planning-related attitudes, laws, policies, or practices, usually focusing their efforts on decision makers. Advocacy actions can include, but are not limited to, documenting and sharing the effects of a problem or a policy decision; developing relationships with key decision makers; participating in forums, hearings, and key meetings; and using social or mass media to convey messages.

The Communication & Advocacy section of the Injectables Toolkit contains information and tools to help policy makers, program managers, and family planning promoters promote healthful behaviors such as the use of injectable contraceptives and other modern contraceptive methods to limit or space births and to reach women who are reluctant to try injectables because they are misinformed or need a trusted source of information.

• To access general family planning advocacy materials, please visit the Family Planning Advocacy Toolkit.
• For guidance on advocating for community-based access to injectables, please visit the Advocacy section of the Community-Based Access to Injectables Toolkit.
• Please visit the Service Delivery tab for counseling tools and job aids to enhance provider-client communication and dispel misinformation about injectables.

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