How to Use a Theory of Change to Monitor and Evaluate Social and Behavior Change Programs

It serves as a framework to explain how or why a desired change is expected to occur, providing guidance on how to measure behavioral determinants that influence program goals and objectives. Behavior change theory is used to explain people's behaviors and the determinants that make it easier or harder to change those behaviors. Program staff, in collaboration with research, monitoring, and evaluation (RME) staff, should develop the theory of change for the social and behavior change (SBC) M&E plan. This involves identifying the priority behaviors and understanding the underlying factors, such as financial or distance-related barriers, and/or behavioral determinants, such as attitudes and social norms, that the program is targeting to achieve desired change. Behavior change theories, such as Ajzen's theory of planned behavior and the socio-ecological model, provide a theoretical foundation for identifying behavioral determinants. These theories describe how individuals are more likely to adopt a behavior if they have positive attitudes toward the behavior, believe that others in the community support the behavior, and believe that they have control to adopt the behavior. Once the program team identifies the behavioral determinants from behavioral theory that either prevent or support behavior change, they can identify the activities that will influence these behavioral determinants. These activities can then be organized in a logical framework, also called a logframe, which is a planning tool that consists of a matrix showing a project's goal, activities, and anticipated results. A program theory of change explains the behavioral determinants that prevent or facilitate behavior change that the program must address to achieve its desired outcomes. Behavior change theories can help to map out the "missing middle," or the change that program activities bring about in pursuit of its goals. The program team can develop a common understanding of activities that influence the behavioral determinants preventing or supporting behavior change that can be pursued to bring about desired change in specific behaviors. The SBC M&E plan should outline indicators to measure progress and results following the change pathways, methods for collecting and monitoring these indicators, and plans for how data will be analyzed and results will be communicated. An SBC M&E plan helps ensure that data will be used efficiently to improve the program and report on results at various intervals. Developing a program theory of change and selecting indicators for an SBC M&E plan can take up to a week, depending on the program's size or scope, the availability of program and RME staff, and the extent to which staff have considered factors influencing priority behaviors.