Job Details

SCOPE OF WORK 
Save the Children Indonesia recognizes that children's health and well-being are influenced by diverse and interconnected factors. Healthier Smiles program focuses on addressing critical gaps in oral health, nutrition and hygiene for school-aged children in Indonesia. By integrating behavior change approaches, targeted campaigns, infrastructure upgrades, and health education through government systems, the program fosters lifelong healthy behaviors and sustainability. The Mars Wrigley Foundation Healthier Smiles Project focuses on four main program strategies: 

• Improving the health, hygiene, and safety of the school environment. 
• Increasing the health, hygiene, and nutrition knowledge of all school-aged children, caregivers, and educators. 
• Strengthening the policy environment and community support for SHN. 
• Increasing equitable access to health, hygiene, and nutrition services. 

All strategies aim to enhance child participation, strengthen local partnerships and capacity, and introduce community-led innovations that promote sustainability and scalability. While projects have achieved success in many areas, there are still behaviors and outcomes that require deeper investigation and potentially new strategies to achieve meaningful change. The enhanced integration of Social Behavior Change (SBC) methods is one avenue we are exploring to do this. 

Social Behavior Change theory recognizes that individuals are influenced by various factors that can lead them to act against their own best interests. By taking a behavioral science approach, we can develop an evidence-based understanding of how people make decisions related to policies and programs. By applying rigorous research methods, we can better understand how individual behavior and interventions interact. This approach allows behavioral science to offer cost-effective strategies for increasing program effectiveness. 
PURPOSE 

This consultancy will primarily leverage qualitative methods to understand and identify barriers to behavior change among project participants. The SBC formative assessment will focus on key behaviors within SC’s scope of influence that are deemed critical for improving health and wellbeing of children (boys and girls both with and without disabilities) in project schools. The overall aims of this formative assessment are to: 

• Identify a set of key behaviors among project stakeholders, that if changed, would result in improved health (recognizing that the target behavior may be different for different stakeholders and subgroups). 
• Understand the root causes of bottlenecks and barriers that prevent healthy behaviors, including any combination of people, environment, knowledge, etc., that contribute to bottlenecks. 
• Identify potential pathways (platforms) and targets (people) for SBC messaging and interventions, ensuring that the pathways and messages are accessible to the targeted groups. 

1. Pathways (platforms): Facebook messenger, WhatsApp, Nudges, SMS text, child health promoters/Little Doctors, etc. 
2. Targets (people): Parents, children, teachers, food vendors, etc. 

• Identify 2-4 key SBC messages and pathways to test in Phase 7 programming.
• Ensure that children and families that are particularly vulnerable or have different needs are proactively included in community conversations to understand if strategies must be adjusted to reach them. This may require linking with targeted civil society organizations (such as organizations of persons with disabilities) to better understand how to reach and include these vulnerable groups in conversations. 

Results from this study will be used by the MW project teams to inform the creation and adaptation of program strategies for the next phase of MW projects, with the ultimate goal of improving health outcomes for all children, including the most vulnerable.

PRODUCTS 
This consultancy will result in three (3) main products: 

• A technical note, in the form of a technical annex, describing the methodological work carried out, and the intermediary and final results of the data analysis. 

Methods – 

• Sample: Regions and schools, stakeholders (child, teacher, parent, etc), and key characteristics (sex, age group, or other status of interest).
• Activities conducted: number of activities by type (FGD, KII, school observation, etc) and use of participatory learning activities and methods. 

Findings:  

• The rationale for key behaviors examined with a summary analysis of identified bottlenecks and their root causes for each behavior.  
• The messages developed and responses from participants to those messages – including how messages should be adapted for different audiences.  
• Recommendations to program staff for the behaviors, platforms and targets which should be incorporated into future project strategies, as well as potential areas for future research.  
• Inclusion: integrated recommendations for adjustments that should be considered to accommodate different populations in schools 

• An internal report (in the form of a powerpoint, a brochure, or a short written report) highlighting key results, bottlenecks and challenges and most promising mechanisms for SBC messaging, with a clear list of recommendations based on the evidence for the way forward to improve behavior change and health and wellbeing outcomes for all children (recognizing that adaptations and accommodations may be necessary for some groups).  
• All data and analysis related documents that back-up the technical note and the report must be submitted along with initial drafts of each product. 

PROCESS

All research activities should be conducted in close collaboration with a SCIDN point of contact (e.g., MEAL or Project manager). The SCIDN point of contact should review all steps in the process, including the creation of guides, participant selection, data analysis and should be involved in a most of the field activities, especially at the beginning of the assessment or in any interviews with government partners. Data analysis should be an iterative process – this means the MW project staff should be involved in debrief sessions after initial school visits and have an opportunity to react to and adjust methods of the assessment as needed. 
Below is a list of activities and outputs 

• Prior to formative assessment and in collaboration with the MW Project team: 

1. Create a detailed implementation plan for all assessment activities and analysis that outlines roles and responsibilities for SC project staff and consultant at each phase of the formative assessment.
2. Identify 3 to 5 key behaviors of interest for the assessment. These 3-5 behaviors should be based on evidence from previous project reports, situation analyses, grey or academic literature, or other MW project resources that suggest they should be priorities for the assessment.

• Co-create a research protocol for SC’s Ethical Review committee (ERC), highlighting the methodology for the SBC formative assessment with the following sections: 

1. Project objectives 
2. Research questions (based on key health behaviors identified by MW project team) 
3. Methodological approach 
4. Sampling rationale and inclusion criteria (including efforts to ensure that the most vulnerable groups are included and accommodated) 
5. Data collection procedures 
6. Data analysis plan 
7. Consent and assent processes 
8. Data protection 
9. Research training, ethics and child safeguarding 

• Develop qualitative guides, consent/assent forms and any other tools, for each participant type identified in the sample.
• Creation of deductive codebook based on pre-identified behaviors (from step 2).
• Train research assistants (2 day minimum of training) to facilitate FGDs, IDIs, KIIs and school observations (based on methods). 

KEY DELIVERABLES

• Research protocol submitted to Save the Children, highlighting the proposed methodology for the SBC formative assessment following the criteria mentioned above. 
• Qualitative guides for each participant type.
• 9 schools visited (9 sub-district in 2 Districts), with two FGDs and one IDI and KII per school and debrief.
• Technical report with key results and backup documentation of analysis files.
• Internal-oriented product with key learnings and recommendations.

SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

• 7+ years experiences in behavioral science and/or qualitative research.  
• Strong demonstrated technical knowledge of school health, public health, nutrition, WASH or similar field. 
• Demonstrated skills and experience in qualitative research methodology and managing qualitative research in schools and communities. 
• Strong skills in analyzing, interpreting and encouraging the use of qualitative data. 
• Excellent communication, influencing and representational skills.
• Experience of conducting, leading or managing research or programs in development contexts.
• Highly developed cultural awareness and ability to work well in an environment with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
• Experience accommodating children and adults with disabilities in research studies, desired. 
• Commitment to Save the Children values