This brief describes opportunities to improve financial protection programs using behavior change approaches. The Practice Spotlights Social and Behavior Change series supports USAID’s Vision for Health System Strengthening 2030 by exploring how social and behavior change approaches can contribute to countries’ health system strengthening efforts.

This two-pager focuses on USAID’s Learning Question 6, "What are key behavioral outcomes that indicate a functioning, integrated health system? In what ways can integrated health system strengthening approaches explicitly include social and behavior change?"

This two-pager focuses on USAID’s Learning Question 4, “What are effective and sustainable mechanisms or processes to integrate local, community, sub-national, national, and regional voices, priorities, and contributions into USAID’s health system strengthening efforts?”

Two years ago, as it struggled to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus and get people vaccinated, the Government of Jamaica turned to private health care providers for help. The results went well beyond its expectations.

This brief highlights the recent shifts in health systems practice toward more explicitly incorporating an SBC lens in social accountability activities that aim to improve overall health system performance and address inequities. The brief synthesizes the growing body of evidence on the role social accountability plays in increasing accessibility to better-quality health care services and uses case studies and lessons learned to highlight how SBC approaches can be more explicitly integrated into this aspect of HSS programming.

This brief builds on the USAID Local Health System Sustainability Project (LHSS) Strengthening Governance report (2022) and global National Quality Policy and Strategy (NQPS) survey, aiming to provide practical examples and considerations for country practitioners to consider on their quality journeys. It includes case studies of three countries that have used NQPS to mobilize and align resources for quality.

The COVID-19 pandemic placed extraordinary stress on the Kyrgyz Republic’s health system and health care providers, revealing the need for new approaches that would address the immediate needs brought on by the pandemic and contribute to the country’s health system resilience.

This brief presents the achievements of two NGOs that received grants to conduct risk communication and community engagement work under the LHSS Project in the Kyrgyz Republic. It examines the grants’ capacity strengthening impact on the two organizations, describes lessons learned, and provides recommendations for donors, implementing partners, and local government partners implementing similar programs.

This brief presents work completed under the LHSS Kyrgyz Republic Activity Intervention 4: Enhance Cold Chain System. LHSS worked with key government stakeholders, including the Republican Center of Immunoprophylaxis, to digitalize and update components of the country’s vaccine registry and complement these updates by adding additional functionalities for cold chain tracking and management.

Health personnel and teachers team up to increase COVID-19 vaccination coverage among families and children through a campaign to counter myths inhibiting community uptake.

This two-pager focuses on USAID’s Learning Question 1, “What are the contributions of systems thinking approaches and tools to changes in health system outcomes? How do systems thinking approaches affect health system outcomes?”

A Timorese NGO is helping the Ministry of Health provide accurate information about the COVID-19 vaccine, resulting in increased vaccination in target municipalities.

“As health care workers, we know our communities best and can help save lives when we have the best training and information.” — Gulsunmoh Abdulloeva

This two-pager focuses on USAID’s Learning Question 5, “What are effective and sustainable mechanisms or processes that enable the participation of private sector, civil society, and public organizations in developing locally-led solutions to improve high-performing health care, especially for poor and vulnerable populations? What enables the effective participation or leadership of marginalized populations themselves in the development and implementation of these solutions? Under what conditions is this participation different?”

Through intensive engagement with residents, health workers and other community leaders countered misinformation and eased people's concerns. The result: thousands more COVID-19 vaccinations.