What were some common touchpoints in communities you have worked with? Were there any touchpoints that surprised you?
Common Touchpoints
Common Touchpoints
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The most common touchpoints across the communities I worked with are as follows
1. Radio
2. Community meetings,
3. Religious institutions mainly Mosques and Charges,
4. Mobile phones
5. Social Media
6. Music/Theater events specially the cultural days and public holidays
Although the usage of radio is the most common touchpoint in my context, the most amazing touchpoints that surprised me was the massive usage of mobile phones and social media while most of these communities were illiterates sometime back. they learned writing and reading of the local languages in order to use the phones and access social media as their mode of communication with their families, relatives and friends in other countries. Its a touchpoint that is amazingly increasing by the day and its an easy, cheaper way to deliver messages to the target communities in most of the contexts I work.
It's very cool to hear how the phone increased literacy in these communities.
It's great to read that. I am pleasantly surprised that the use of mobile phones has increased the level of literacy, and that confirms that it is difficult to know what may be the reason that can drive a person to do something. I don't think mobile phone companies would have thought that their device would increase literacy levels in some communities. What I am not clear about is that if a study had been done on people's motives for learning to read and write, would the use of mobile phones have come as a motive? or would it have been seen as a possible motive?
I totally agree. It's the first time for me using mobile phone as a touchpoint. And it makes me wonder about tomorrow's humanitarian aid...
We used theatre in Bangladesh, working with a local theatre company - @Alma Migens can add more as well as she was the mastermind behind it! But it was fantastic - very engaging participatory theatre with lots of songs that children would sing afterwards around hygiene - it was a really positive way to bring people together.
In Greece we used Puppet shows for children they were popular. In Ethiopia we used mobile cinema also to good use. But the best one was in Greece were we had a young female volunteer that started a women's café round. they met in our HP tent once a week and all male volunteers and staff were ceremoniously kicked out of the tent :-) This cafe round was a lot of things (FGD, psycho-social support group, a friendly hangout,.....)
This is great! I like the way it brings about community and gives an informal hangout place to share good/bad/ugly in each other's lives.
I would like to bring up a question on social media, which more and more becomes one of the main touchpoints with any population, but which is a medium on which it is nearly impossible to control a message. (example anti vaxxer messages for COVID are far less than pro vaccine messages and yet they dominate the perception of most people as they are loud) Does anyone have good recommendations on how to use social media for a targeted population without becoming a social media moderator full time?
Generally, social media audiences expect to receive responses to questions and constructive criticism within an hour or less. You want your followers and fans to feel welcome to engage with you, so it is important to be responsive and keep a dialogue active. Here are a few strategies for keeping that dialogue manageable:
In Sudan, we used a car (rickshaw) with a speaker going around the camps all day.
In Greece, the showers became touchpoints for women without planning it ourselves. Showers were managed by community members and had specific schedules and shifts for women and men. There were 4 to 5 women managing the facilities, maintaining them properly, protecting users, helping people with disabilities, pregnant women, children, etc. Little by little, it became a meeting point with 20 of them every day, sharing experiences, keeping company with each other, supporting them, and sharing knowledge. It was beautiful to see how they created their own space to discuss health, wellbeing, and women-focused issues.
I would never have thought of showers. What a cool way of connecting.
Me neither! Really interesting, thanks Maria for sharing
I also use the rickshaw (good to know how it's called). We said sound truck in Chad. We also used this in Chad especially in rural areas. We also have the "crieurs" or shouters. Love to sharing about Greece. In Haiti, it was the same about the rivers and laundry. It was a meeting point for women to share experiences,... Definitely, every community has a dynamic and it worth to try to understand these dynamics for a better approach.
I have used several touchpoints, from mass communication through the media as radio, sms to mobile phones, to community activities: drama, clowns, community meetings, and personal communication: home visits, group meetings. Depending on the context different combinations of touchpoints were used. Although we had impacts and outcomes we did not expect, I cannot say that the touchpoints themselves surprised me, they were all quite common, so I am very curious about the results that the touchpoint tool will deliver. I see this as a way to investigate new ways to reach people.
In my line of work, we use various touchpoints which depend on the target population, the type of intervention and the resources available. These include; TV and Radio(jingles and interactive programs), edutainment, religious and traditional leaders, print media (posters, brochures, banners, billboards Q&As, flipcharts), social media, mobile phones, community mobilizers, town announcers, motorized announcements, compound dialogues, U-Report, Goodwill ambassadors, Celebrities, Artists, youth groups, women groups, men groups, community based organizations, civil service organizations to name but a few.
I have worked on the below touch points,
1.Community meeting
2. Mosque based intervention engaging faith leaders
3.Radio
4.Mobile phone
5.Learning center/Child friendly space.
6.Cross check with WASH structures
7.Model Mother experience sharing/peer learning
8.HH visit
The Model mothers or care givers experience sharing was amazingly worked in Rohingya context and the involvement of Faith leaders also going well. As Rohingya Community is very conservatives so drama and song is not appreciated by all. However They feel role model when they practices hygiene properly and prevent diseases. We have triggered that emotion and motive people through their own community members or engaging their neighbor's who are practicing .
For me I mostly have used religious / community leaders/community development committees, telephone, schools, and radio. What has surprised me is that some of the most powerful touchpoints may actually hinder or disrupts progress.
Khumbu, I share in your experience as well.
It is interesting mostly how the beneficiaries tend to approach the process. They often want to do most of the things at their pace whiles you are so pre-occupied with reducing human suffering !
Agree with the discussion above ,there are so many methods, which methods work best?
In my experience the selection of the method was not the same in Mozambique than in Philippines and furthermore needs to match the target group and the need; there is no ‘best method’, as some will work better with some groups and some contexts than others. Some methods work very well with children, and others are better for adults. Some methods are needed specifically to be able to communicate with persons with disabilities, such as easy-to-read/understand materials for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. An ideal is to have a selection of methods. Pre-test the methods with the community to see how they work is essential.
Khumbu, I share in your experience as well.
It is interesting mostly how the beneficiaries tend to approach the process. They often want to do most of the things at their pace whiles you are so pre-occupied with reducing human suffering !
More recently, during the COVID-19 Response, I served on the Emergency Response Team in part of my country Ghana. I observed that the principal touch points were TV, Radio, WhatsApp, Facebook, Community Information Centers ( an overhead 'ahuja speaker' mounted on an elevated mast that towers high enough to reach the ends of the communities).
More remarkable about this touchpoint is the element of social distancing which under normal circumstances would have made it possible for people to validate and triangulate information disseminated.
Everyone was eager to listen to the Presidential Update on COVID-19 every other Sunday evening to inform their next action. Beside general educations on the preventive protocols, panelist also rely on the Presidential Updates to further disseminate these to the community members via other touch points.
The surprising part for me is the common and coordinated information sharing across the various touch points. So, the most authoritative information is that of the President on the next-steps as far as COVID-19 is concerned.
Very interesting to hear how you were sharing information during COVID 19 and trying to respect social distancing and ensure people got the correct information that they needed.
Depends on the context. For instance in Chad/Tchad (central africa) it was the radio, religous leaders, trucksound (speaker on a truck), communities meetings but also shouters (crieurs in French). Television was not a thing. When I come to work in Congo, which is also central Africa, I was expecting the same. Nope. Not the case. Television was more a thing and since 62% of the population live in urban settings, social media is also to be considered. In Haiti, community health workers paid a tremendous role. Therefore, a tool like touchpoints are important. I also love the part about respected individuals to assess and be able to build on the influencers. It reminds me on the course social norms and sanitation where it was emphasize that the KAP survey won't let us know who can influence the community we are working in.
Great insights into how touchpoints can be very different in different contexts.
In fact, I'm currently discovering new touchpoints that I hadn't thought of before because they weren't relevant in previous contexts. In past contexts (Africa, Caribbean, Asia) these included meetings with the most influential people (depending on the case: religious leaders, village elders, teachers/intellectuals, elderly people, etc). We have always done this face to face. Currently, I work in a very low profile, so large groupings are not possible. That said, we continue to do a lot of small-scale meetings. However, the majority of the population and therefore of our beneficiaries have smartphones. So we have created Whatsapp groups for example to pass on certain hygiene messages. We also use the local radio, which is very popular.