Health Promotion and Communication Project Year Five: Quarterly Narrative Report January 1, 2012 – March 31, 2012

The project is implemented by University Research Co., LLC (URC) in partnership with the Philippine Department of Health (DOH) and Local Government Units (LGUs). HealthPRO's primary objective is to increase the impact of strategic behavioral change communication interventions, strengthen national institutional capacity, and assist USAID's Country Assistance (CA) and other organizations in supporting the communication element of their programs. HealthPRO's communication activities focus on several health services, including Maternal, Neonatal, Child Health and Nutrition (MNCHN), Family Planning (FP), Tuberculosis (TB), and HIV/AIDS. The project's expected outcomes include positive behavioral changes among individuals and caregivers, increased capacity of national and local institutions in carrying out effective health promotion strategies, and improved coordination and integration of governmental and non-governmental health promotion activities. HealthPRO's activities are implemented in 30 provinces in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, including the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), and select cities for HIV/AIDS. The project's accomplishments for the reporting quarter (January 1 - March 31, 2012) are clustered under several components, including behavior change communication planning, behavior change communication implementation and support, and project management. Under behavior change communication planning, HealthPRO continued to provide technical assistance on the development of templates and materials, and the implementation of sustainability planning workshops. The project also ensured that behavior change communication plans were implemented and integrated in the 2012 annual operation plans (AOPs) of the provinces. HealthPRO's alliance with public and private partners resulted in additional funds leveraged in support of health promotion and communication. Under behavior change communication implementation and support, HealthPRO provided technical assistance in training more than 400 health service providers and 6,800 barangay health workers in Interpersonal Communication and Counseling (IPC/C). The project also provided technical assistance in the conduct of more than 170 supportive supervision sessions and more than 600 client exit interviews to monitor the quality of family planning counseling. HealthPRO continued to mobilize local resource persons for health classes, mobilization of community-based organizations for health classes and health events, and utilization of points-of-contact sites for the distribution of family planning materials. HealthPRO's family planning activities generated considerable and positive local media coverage and reached more than three million people. The project continued to roll-out family planning Wave 2 communication activities in several regions and provinces, while FP Wave 3 activities and materials for seven focus provinces were conceptualized, successfully finalized, and pretested. Initial meetings and orientations were conducted to support the major activity for FP Wave 3 - community plays. A mapping of existing family planning services was also conducted to serve as a viable referral reference for health providers and volunteers. HealthPRO's quarterly report highlights the project's progress and accomplishments in implementing its activities and achieving its expected outcomes. The report provides a comprehensive overview of the project's activities, including behavior change communication planning, implementation, and support, as well as project management and coordination.