A health department programme called Side-by-Side is improving childhoods in South Africa’s poorest neighbourhoods, according to an African Alliance analysis of data from the project’s first five years (2018 to 2022).
Armed with a redesigned Road to Health Book (RTHB), parents, caregivers, and health workers around the country are collaborating to help children “survive and thrive” instead of just “survive”.
The 44-page A5 booklet records a child’s immunisation and growth milestones as before. Still, it also includes information for caregivers about the extra care, love, protection, health care, and nutrition that a baby needs in its first 1000 days to reach its full potential.
“It helps family members to feed children with healthy food when we leave them in their care,” explained a participant from the Western Cape.
Campaign messages also reach people on social media, the MomConnect App, and even the airways. A radio drama broadcasted on 11 community stations in 10 different languages allows people to call in and ask technical questions or participate in knowledge quizzes with potential cash prizes.
Health workers (in clinics) and the new RTHB are still the campaign’s most important contact points, according to data African Alliance researchers collected from caregivers and parents through surveys, in-depth interviews, and focus groups.
Two-thirds of respondents heard about the campaign through a health worker at a clinic. The nurses and doctors those respondents encountered did an excellent job conveying crucial early childhood development messages. More than 90% of these respondents said health workers spoke to them about using the RTHB, breastfeeding benefits, babies’ nutritional needs, vaccination, how to care for a sick child, and which symptoms warrant a clinic visit. 88% of respondents said health workers taught them how to promote early learning.
All in all, the Side-by-Side brand is not as well known as the MomConnect App, but key campaign content (all based around care, love, protection, health, and nutrition) seems to be reaching people even if they don’t know the Side-by-Side brand per se.
The most prolific messages were that good nutrition starts with breastfeeding (55% of respondents were aware of that message), the protective benefits of vaccines (50%), and that sick or injured children need extra care to get better (44%).
A social media campaign explaining that newborns don’t need water elicited lively debate on Facebook.
“Yooh, I used to give water to my 2 months old baby…. what damage have I caused???” one concerned mother asked.
Side-by-Side then explained, “Breastfeeding is really the best possible food for babies in the first six months of life. Babies’ tummies are not yet ready for food, water, or any other liquids. These could cause diarrhoea, constipation, infections, and even allergies. If you cannot breastfeed your baby or are thinking of stopping breastfeeding because you are unable to, you should discuss this with a health worker at your local clinic who will be able to advise you on how to use formula safely”.
Side-by-Side also empowers communities to speak up, advocate for high-quality early childhood development, and help struggling or unsure peers.
“It helps me as the mother of the child when I see another mother with a small baby not taking the child to the clinic, I show them the book and share the information with them,” explained a mother from the Eastern Cape.
Despite these clear wins, our review found two simple ways to take Side-by-Side to the next level.
The first way is to develop a fresh social media content plan with ideas on improving engagement on various platforms. The African Alliance has drafted a sample content plan (available on page 76 of the review) and suggested some website tweaks that will make it easier for people to access all the resources that are already there.
The second suggestion is to leverage the power of radio dramas. These 7-minute scripted stories were so successful that listeners phoned in to ask hosts to come to their homes. The station managers collected a treasure trove of information from listeners regarding their worries and uncertainties. The Alliance suggests that a team gather this information to develop regular advocacy campaigns based on the questions coming to the radio stations in each province.
These two simple steps will go a long way to promote a healthy, happy childhood for South African children growing up in areas of the country where they face a multitude of threats to their well-being, such as poverty, stress, malnutrition, stunting, environmental toxins, infectious disease, and exposure to violence.