Purpose and Description
Barrier Analysis is a rapid assessment tool used in community health and other community development projects to identify behavioral determinants associated with a particular behavior so that more effective behavior change communication messages, strategies and supporting activities (e.g., creating support groups, changing community norms, creating alternative activities) can be developed. It focuses on eight determinants: perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived action efficacy, perceived self-efficacy, cues for action, perceived social acceptability, perception of Divine will, and positive and negative attributes of the behavior.

Barrier Analysis can be used at the start of a behavior change program to determine key messages and activities for intervention. It can also be used in an ongoing program focusing on behaviors that have not changed very much despite repeated efforts, in order to understand what is keeping people from making a particular change.

This facilitator’s guide has been written for trainers to teach others about Barrier Analysis and/or to learn the technique themselves. It guides trainers through a step-by-step process for conducting the analysis and provides background information on the technique as well as some basic information on behavior change theory. Trainers are encouraged to adapt the materials to meet their own needs.

Target Groups, Prerequisites and Time Needed
This manual is designed for people who have some experience with social and behavior change communication programs and are interested in learning a new technique for understanding promoters and barriers to behavior change. Trainers should have experience with facilitating groups, developing questionnaires and conducting focus group discussions. Trainees or workshop participants do not necessarily have to know much about social and behavior change since the workshop provides a brief overview of what it is all about. However, it is helpful if participants have at least basic experience in developing questionnaires and in conducting interviews, either individual or focus group. If they do not, we suggest extending the workshop to five days and spending more time on the principles and practices of developing questionnaires.

This workshop is designed to take four days, which includes a field practicum. As noted above, if participants have limited experience with developing questionnaires and interviewing, the workshop can be extended to five days to allow sessions on these two topics.

How This Guide Is Organized

After an introduction, this Facilitator’s Guide outlines a four-day training program consisting of 23 sessions, along with a field practicum. The 23 sessions in the guide have been divided into two parts:

Part One: What Is Barrier Analysis? - This section defines the key concepts upon which the Barrier Analysis approach is based, outlines the seven steps of the process, and illustrates the approach with two examples from the field.

Part Two: How To Conduct Barrier Analysis - This section leads participants through the seven steps in the Barrier Analysis process and includes a field practicum.

Next (Field practicum)