Papers by Erma Manoncourt
Social determinants of health provide an important framework to guide accelerated action on Non-c... more Social determinants of health provide an important framework to guide accelerated action on Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs) in low and middle-income countries. By addressing non-medical factors that also contribute to NCD prevalence, health promotion practitioners and all other development professionals, working in countries where there is less capacity in chronic care facilities and services, are better positioned to explore informing cross-sectoral intervention planning and synergistic program development. Based on country-level experiences, this chapter explores three dimensions: (1) the relationship between SDH and chronic diseases, (2) the interaction between NCDs, SDH, and poverty, including the relevance of child poverty as key social determinant to guide action, and (3) the difference made by SDH approach to NCDs in policy and program design. Programmatically, the chapter also explores the role of SDH and NCDs during emergency and humanitarian situations, and describes the lessons learned from the experiences from the field and other UN agencies. Specific reference is made to the importance of partnerships and community engagement when applying a SDH approach.
Promotion & Education, Jun 1, 1996
Health Promotion International, Mar 1, 2019
Health Education & Behavior, Apr 1, 1998
... policy makers and by involving community volunteers, city officials from several agencies, an... more ... policy makers and by involving community volunteers, city officials from several agencies, andfirefighters and police, Detroit has been able to reduce Halloween arson significantly ... In defining the scope of these two special issues, the editors deliberately focused on articles ...
Promotion & Education, Jun 1, 1996
Journal of Communication in Healthcare, 2022
COVID-19 and health inequities: the case for embracing complexity and investing in equityand comm... more COVID-19 and health inequities: the case for embracing complexity and investing in equityand community-driven approaches to communication Renata Schiavo, Gretchen Van Wye and Erma Manoncourt Editor-in-Chief; Department of Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA; Health Equity Initiative, New York, NY, USA; Strategies for Equity and Communication Impact (SECI), New York, NY, USA; New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York, NY, USA; International Union for Health Promotion and Education (IUPHE), Paris, France; Paris School of International Affairs, Sciences Po, Paris, France; New York University School of Global Public Health, New York, NY, USA
All rights reserved.This document,which is not a formal publication of UNAIDS,may be freely revie... more All rights reserved.This document,which is not a formal publication of UNAIDS,may be freely reviewed,quoted, reproduced or translated,in part or in full,provided the source is acknowledged.The document may not be sold or used in conjunction with commercial purposes without prior written approval from UNAIDS (contact: UNAIDS Information Centre). The views expressed in documents by named authors are solely the responsibility of those authors. The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this work do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNAIDS concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers and boundaries. The mention of specific companies or of certain manu-facturers'products does not imply that they are endorsed or recommended by UNAIDS in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned.Errors and omissions excepted, the name...
Practitioners of development communication often set out to change the behaviour of people reache... more Practitioners of development communication often set out to change the behaviour of people reached in the projects they undertake. The behaviour may range from getting farmers to adopt a new cropping technique, to persuading mothers to feed their babies boiled water. Their approach may be top-down or participatory, as the occasion requires. It is unlikely that farmers will respond to non-participative interventions in altering their cropping practices, just as it is unlikely that mothers with critically ill babies will respond to lengthy participatory processes when seeking treatment. Communicators working to change or develop people's behaviour have found it a highly complex activity to engage in, with goals often remaining elusive in spite of their best efforts. Many development communication campaigns succeed admirably in raising awareness about a particular issue while failing abysmally, at the same time, to bring about the sustained behaviour change
The concept of social mobilization has been central to UNICEFs efforts to create a supportive env... more The concept of social mobilization has been central to UNICEFs efforts to create a supportive environment for child survival initiatives. Social mobilization entails a broad-scale movement focused on achieving specific development goals through a process of intersectoral alliances creation of demand for services community participation and capacity building. Experience has demonstrated the importance of adapting individual mobilization efforts to the specific country setting and policy framework. Social mobilization activities should be fully integrated into the program strategy and guided by both situational and behavioral analyses. Their success depends on identifying and working with key allies and partners.
Health Promotion Practice, 2020
In response to a number of growing global health challenges, New York University and UNICEF desig... more In response to a number of growing global health challenges, New York University and UNICEF designed a Behavioral Communication Strategies for Global Epidemics course that brings together United Nations professionals, government staff, and MPH (Master of Public Health) students to design innovative social behavior change communication (SBCC) strategies that address disease outbreaks and humanitarian challenges around the world. Applying a systems approach, participants in the course work on interdisciplinary teams to design strategies, develop skills, and engage in global learning. At the culmination of the course, all teams present strategies to UNICEF country offices for implementation. This innovative model for disease outbreak, public health education, and humanitarian response provides professionals with an opportunity to develop a wide range of competencies, including systems thinking, behavior change, and human-centered design and equips them with the necessary tools to devel...
Health Promotion International, 2021
Summary Community engagement is crucial for controlling disease outbreak and mitigating natural a... more Summary Community engagement is crucial for controlling disease outbreak and mitigating natural and industrial disasters. The COVID-19 pandemic has reconfirmed the need to elevate community engagement to build equity, trust and sustained action in future health promotion preparedness strategies. Using the health promotion strategy of strengthening community action enhances the opportunity for better outcomes. There is, therefore, a need to improve our understanding of community engagement practices during crises, scale-up good community engagement initiatives, and improve and sustain people-centered approaches to emergency responses. This paper presents five case studies from the United States, Singapore, Sierra Leone, Kenya and South Africa that demonstrate the potential strengths that can be nurtured to build resilience in local communities to help mitigate the impact of disasters and emergencies. The case studies highlight the importance of co-developing relevant education and co...
Global health, science and practice, Dec 23, 2016
Following the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of a Public Health Emergency of Interna... more Following the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern regarding the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in July 2014, UNICEF was asked to co-lead, in coordination with WHO and the ministries of health of affected countries, the communication and social mobilization component-which UNICEF refers to as communication for development (C4D)-of the Ebola response. For the first time in an emergency setting, C4D was formally incorporated into each country's national response, alongside more typical components such as supplies and logistics, surveillance, and clinical care. This article describes the lessons learned about social mobilization and community engagement in the emergency response to the Ebola outbreak, with a particular focus on UNICEF's C4D work in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. The lessons emerged through an assessment conducted by UNICEF using 4 methods: a literature review of key documents, meeting reports, and ...
Global Health Promotion, 2015
The ongoing outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa is the largest on record; it has undermine... more The ongoing outbreak of the Ebola virus in West Africa is the largest on record; it has undermined already fragile healthcare systems and presented new challenges to contain the spread of the disease. Based on our observations in the field and insights from referenced sources, we aimed to identify key experiences of community engagement and social mobilization efforts in the current Ebola response. We concluded that there is no excuse not to actively involve local people and that the United Nations (UN) agencies and other partners did learn from their earlier mistakes to make a genuine attempt to better engage with communities. However, bottom-up approaches have not been widely implemented during the response and the reasons for not doing so must be further assessed. Health promotion can make an important contribution, because it shows how to enable people to take more control over their lives and health. This commentary can provide a guide to agencies to understand an appropriate w...
AIMS Public Health, 2014
Background: There is a seeming lack within the public health fields of both research and practice... more Background: There is a seeming lack within the public health fields of both research and practice of information sharing across so-called-silos of work‖. Many professionals in the public health fields dealing with infectious diseases (IDs) are unaware of the programs and approaches taken by their colleagues in the non-communicable diseases (NCDs) arena, and vice versa. A particular instance of this is in the understanding and application of health promotion approaches. This is a problem that needs to be addressed with the goal of producing the most efficient and effective health promotion approaches to the prevention and control of diseases in general. Objectives: This project examined health promotion approaches to the prevention of NCDs that could be used in the prevention of IDs. Methods: A knowledge synthesis and translation perspective was undertaken. We screened and analyzed a wide range of sources that were considered relevant, with particular emphasis on systematic reviews, published articles and the grey literature. Results: The analysis revealed a diverse health promotion knowledge base for application to IDs. Comprehensive health promotion models were found to be useful. Findings suggest that there are profound similarities for health promotion approaches in both NCDs and IDs. Conclusions: This study revealed gaps in knowledge synthesis to translation. The need for development of intervention and implementation research is considered.
Health Education & Behavior, 1998
... policy makers and by involving community volunteers, city officials from several agencies, an... more ... policy makers and by involving community volunteers, city officials from several agencies, andfirefighters and police, Detroit has been able to reduce Halloween arson significantly ... In defining the scope of these two special issues, the editors deliberately focused on articles ...
Global Health Promotion, 2009
This commentary introduces the recently created IUHPE Global Working Group (GWG) on Social Determ... more This commentary introduces the recently created IUHPE Global Working Group (GWG) on Social Determinants of Health, which provides a unique opportunity to bring a global health promotion response to the social inequalities that result from the unequal distribution of the social determinants of health. The two launch meetings of the GWG, which were held in the context of the conference `Closing the gap in a generation', enabled direct discussion and reaction with respect to the implementation of the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health's (CSDH) recommendations. Over the course of these meetings the group identified five main areas of work to specifically focus on over the next 18 months, leading to the 20th IUHPE World Conference on `Health, equity and sustainable development'. The discussions also facilitated the revision of the GWG's terms of reference, as presented in this commentary (Global Health Promotion, 2009; Supp (1): pp. 89—92)
Promotion & Education, 1996
Promotion & Education, 1996
Promotion & Education, 1996
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Papers by Erma Manoncourt