Travel show: A unique genre for SBCC

Summary:

Bangladesh has a rapidly changing media landscape. Five years ago, TV was the most popular media. Now, online, web-based, and social media are growing in popularity. As part of the transmedia strategy for Ujjiban, an integrated Social and Behavior Change (SBCC) program, we conducted extensive online research to identify popular entertainment/media formats that could potentially be used for enter-education content. Through this process we selected the travel show as an innovative format for integrating SBCC related to a wide range of health topics. Our travel show, entitled 'GHURI FIRI JANI', features a group of travelers (a foreigner women along with one Bangladeshi man and one Bangladeshi woman) who explore some of Bangladesh's lesser known areas, to experience the beautiful landscapes, history, and cultural practices in these areas. The show features the journey of the travelers, which includes home stays and interaction with locals to uncover their stories. The central idea is that the show is as much about the personal journey of the travelers as it is about locations they visit. As part of their journey they come across different health, nutrition, tuberculosis, and family planning issues that are later discussed as part of ongoing, natural conversations and reflections. The mood of the show is very casual, authentic, and realistic. The travel show format has previously not been widely utilized to promote healthy behavior and SBCC activities in Bangladesh. The show is scheduled to be aired on TV and online channels starting December 2019.

Background/Objectives:

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Ujjiban Social and Behavior Change Communication (SBCC) Project is a 5-year integrated effort designed to improve the health of communities across Bangladesh. Ujjiban's integrated approach addresses maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent health; family planning; nutrition, and tuberculosis. This ambitious project works closely with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to increase the number of individuals who use health services and encourage adoption of healthy behaviors among all Bangladeshis. Ujjiban also coordinates among partners to develop quality leadership and strengthen governmental services at all levels.

Description of Intervention and/or Methods/Design:

The travel show is a series of 20 episodes. Each episode is around 20 minutes. The travel show is part of Ujjiban's comprehensive transmedia plan which includes the genres of drama, factual, training videos, and social media clips. These products are disseminated through TV, radio, online, social media and are narrowcasted through frontline health and family planning workers. The concept and strategy for the travel show plan was developed in working sessions with stakeholders including community members. A five-minute demo was developed and shared with stakeholders before finalizing the themes, locations, running order, and draft scripts. Filming was completed in two months, and the product is now in final production. The themes and issues covered through this show include maternal, neonatal, child and adolescent health; family planning; nutrition; tuberculosis; and water and sanitation.

Results/Lessons Learned:

The travel show has garnered interest from a national TV station that will broadcast it on prime time, and two online platforms plan to host the series on their platforms. Using lessons learned from our other transmedia work, we have repurposed 20 short clips from the show to share through social media and community events. Frontline health and family planning workers will use the clips in home visits and courtyard shows. Government departments have agreed to disseminate the clips during community shows organized through their audio-visual vans, at their own cost. We experienced some difficulties during filming. We intended to cover many different programmatic areas in the show. However, because of restrictions on women's mobility, it was not always possible to film women and children who are central to the discussion. We managed to film in most locations by securing permission from local religious and government leaders.

Discussion/Implications for the Field:

We have received positive feedback on the travel show from government counterparts. We plan to repurpose the content for dissemination on a wide variety of channels: TV, online and web platforms, and social media. As a new genre for SBCC, the travel show is capturing the attention of stakeholders. Community members have responded well to pilot episodes featured on our social media. The repurposed clips from the travel show will be utilized with different age groups: children and adolescents (through schools' activities and campaigns), youth (through social media), and the broader public (through television, online, web and other neo medias).

Abstract submitted by:

Kazi Faisal Mahmud - Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs (JHU CCP)                         

Patrick Coleman - JHU CCP 
Sanjanthi Velu - JHU CCP  
Paula  Stauffer - JHU CCP 
Ashiqul Islam - JHU CCP 
Nawmi Mannan - JHU CCP