Measuring Provider Behavior Change

Provider behavior defines a range of actions that include but are not limited to facility management, adherence to clinical protocols, supervision, and client-provider interaction. Moreover, these behaviors are the result of a complex set of factors, both internal (e.g., attitudes, values, and beliefs) and external (e.g., supervisor support, access to professional development, and a supportive workplace environment). Understanding what drives provider behaviors and how they impact client-level outcomes is key to improving health services.

Providers’ behavior can significantly influence patients’ experiences of health service and their likelihood to adhere to treatment or recommendations, and potentially alter patients’ likelihood to re-engage with health services for improved health outcomes. Increasingly, experts recognize that adequate health worker training and structural support (e.g., availability of commodities and consultation room privacy) are not sufficient to provide high-quality health services. Social and behavior change (SBC) programs have introduced strategies to improve health worker performance. However, current understanding of how to measure provider behavior and provider behavior change (PBC) is limited. 

This course aims to support Social and Behavior Change (SBC) programs by helping program planners and designers better understand provider behavior change initiatives and their impact on service delivery and quality. The course is also meant to advance measurement of PBC by providing frameworks and illustrative examples of how PBC measurement can inform program planning and design. This course is comprised of two short instructional videos that last between 10-15 minutes. The videos are accompanied by a How to Brief that students can print for easy reference. 

Breakthrough RESEARCH developed this course for program managers and mid­-level professionals who are interested in gaining a better understanding of provider behavior, PBC approaches, and how to measure the outcomes of these approaches. While the steps presented include examples specific to family planning programs, SBC practitioners can apply them to any program.