Innovation and behavior change. Applied anthropology strategies for international health and cross-cultural medicine.

ABSTRACT

Most international health programs depend on individual behavior change. Cleverly catalyzing such change in populations requires knowledge of preprogram health behaviors and the web of culture in which they are suspended. This article reviews general medical anthropology perspectives and cases from the field. The current methods for defining baseline health knowledge, attitudes, and practices are reviewed to facilitate the development of benchmarks against which successful programmatic change can be measured.