scholarly journals Evaluation of a savings and micro-credit program for vulnerable young women in Nairobi

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Annabel Erulkar ◽  
Erica Chong

Tap and Reposition Youth (TRY) was a four-year initiative undertaken by the Population Council and K-Rep Development Agency to reduce adolescents’ vulnerabilities to adverse social and reproductive health outcomes by improving livelihoods options. The project targeted out-of-school adolescent girls and young women aged 16–22 residing in low-income and slum areas of Nairobi. TRY used a modified group-based micro-finance model to extend integrated savings, credit, business support, and mentoring to out-of-school adolescents and young women. A longitudinal study of participants was conducted with a matched comparison group identified through cross-sectional community-based studies, undertaken at baseline and endline to enable an assessment of changes associated with the project. This report states that 326 participants and their controls were interviewed at baseline and 222 pairs were interviewed at endline. The results suggest that rigorous micro-finance models may be appropriate for a subset of girls, especially those who are older and less vulnerable. The impact on noneconomic indicators is less clear. Additional experimentation and adaptation is required to develop livelihoods models that acknowledge and respond to the particular situation of adolescent girls.

Author(s):  
Elizabeth G Henry ◽  
Kristy M Hackett ◽  
Ayaga Bawah ◽  
Patrick O Asuming ◽  
Caesar Agula ◽  
...  

Abstract Community-based demand-generation family planning programmes have been associated with increased contraceptive use in rural areas of Ghana. However, rigorous evaluations of such programmes in urban contexts are lacking. We used a retrospective, cross-sectional with comparison group design to estimate the immediate and sustained impact of the Willows intervention on modern contraceptive use in Kumasi, Ghana. The Willows intervention is a home-based counselling and referral programme for women in low-income urban settlements. We analysed data from a cross-sectional representative survey of 1205 women of reproductive age in the intervention area and 1108 women in a matched comparison site. The main outcome was women’s reported contraceptive use at: (1) baseline (January 2013); (2) programme close (December 2016); and (3) follow-up (August to October 2018). We estimated the programme effect at the community level and for women who reported receiving a family planning counselling visit. We used coarsened exact matching to assess the impact of the intervention relative to outcomes for matched comparison women. Comparing those who reported a family planning visit in the intervention area with matched comparison area women who reported no visit, we estimated a 10.5 percentage point increase in use of modern contraceptives from baseline to close (95%CI : 6.2, 14.8; P < 0.001) and a 7.6 percentage point increase from baseline to follow-up (95%CI : 3.3, 11.9; P < 0.001). However, only 20.2% of women in the Willows intervention area reported a visit. The Willows intervention, therefore, did not achieve its aim to reach all reproductive-aged women in the community. At the community level, we found no significant effect of the intervention at either programme close or 2 years later. We recommend that similar community-based interventions strive for greater outreach and simultaneously launch robust prospective impact evaluations.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. e0221053 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evodius Kuringe ◽  
Jacqueline Materu ◽  
Daniel Nyato ◽  
Esther Majani ◽  
Flaviana Ngeni ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
pp. 135910532098558
Author(s):  
Carmina Castellano-Tejedor ◽  
María Torres-Serrano ◽  
Andrés Cencerrado

The transformation that COVID-19 has brought upon the world is unparalleled. The impact on mental health is equally unprecedented and yet unexplored in depth. An online-based survey was administered to 413 community-based adults during COVID-19 confinement to explore psychological impact and identify high risk profiles. Young females concerned about the future, expressing high COVID-related distress, already following psychological therapy and suffering from pre-existing chronic conditions, were those at highest risk of psychological impact due to the COVID-19 situation. Findings could be employed to design tailored psychological interventions in the early stages of the outbreak to avoid the onset/exacerbation of psychopathology.


Trials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Medina-Marino ◽  
Dana Bezuidenhout ◽  
Sybil Hosek ◽  
Ruanne V. Barnabas ◽  
Millicent Atujuna ◽  
...  

Abstract Background HIV incidence among South African adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) remains high, but could be reduced by highly effective pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). Unfortunately, AGYW report significant barriers to clinic-based sexual and reproductive health services. Even when AGYW access PrEP as an HIV prevention method, poor prevention-effective use was a serious barrier to achieving its optimal HIV prevention benefits. Determining the acceptability and feasibility of community-based platforms to increase AGYW’s access to PrEP, and evaluating behavioural interventions to improve prevention-effective use of PrEP are needed. Methods We propose a mixed-methods study among AGYW aged 16–25 years in Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. In the first component, a cross-sectional study will assess the acceptability and feasibility of leveraging community-based HIV counselling and testing (CBCT) platforms to refer HIV-negative, at-risk AGYW to non-clinic-based, same-day PrEP initiation services. In the second component, we will enrol 480 AGYW initiating PrEP via our CBCT platforms into a three-armed (1:1:1) randomized control trial (RCT) that will evaluate the effectiveness of adherence support interventions to improve the prevention-effective use of PrEP. Adherence will be measured over 24 months via tenofovir-diphosphate blood concentration levels. Qualitative investigations will explore participant, staff, and community experiences associated with community-based PrEP services, adherence support activities, study implementation, and community awareness. Costs and scalability of service platforms and interventions will be evaluated. Discussion This will be the first study to assess the acceptability and feasibility of leveraging CBCT platforms to identify and refer at-risk AGYW to community-based, same-day PrEP initiation services. It will also provide quantitative and qualitative results to inform adherence support activities and services that promote the prevention-effective use of PrEP among AGYW. By applying principles of implementation science, behavioural science, and health economics research, we aim to inform strategies to improve access to and prevention-effective use of PrEP by AGYW. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.govNCT03977181. Registered on 6 June 2019—retrospectively registered.


2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (S1) ◽  
pp. 25-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adalberto Loyola-Sanchez ◽  
Julie Richardson ◽  
Ingris Pelaez-Ballestas ◽  
José Alvarez-Nemegyei ◽  
John N. Lavis ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Mthembu ◽  
Musawenkosi Mabaso ◽  
Sarah Reis ◽  
Khangelani Zuma ◽  
Nompumelelo Zungu

Abstract Background Evidence indicate that intimate partner violence (IPV) is disturbingly high among South African adolescent girls and young women (AGYW). Understanding prevalence and risk factors for IPV among these emerging adults is critical for developing appropriate interventions to prevent adverse health outcomes later in life. This study investigates the prevalence and factors associated with lifetime physical IPV experience among AGYW, aged 15–24 years, using the South African national HIV prevalence, incidence, behaviour and communication survey conducted in 2017. Methods The data used in this secondary analysis was obtained from a cross-sectional, population-based household survey data, conducted using a multi-stage stratified random cluster sampling approach. Multivariate stepwise backward logistic regression modelling was used to determine factors associated with IPV. Results Of 716 AGYW that responded to the two commonly answered questions on IPV, 13.1% (95% CI: 9.6–17.6) indicated that they experienced IPV. The odds of reporting experiences of IPV were significantly lower among AGYW residing in high SES households [AOR = 0.09 (95% CI: 0.02–0.47), p = 0.004] than low SES households, and those residing in rural informal/tribal areas [AOR = 0.01 (95% CI: 0.00–0.22), p = 0.004] than urban areas. AGYW experiencing IPV had higher odds of reporting psychological distress compared to their counterparts [AOR = 4.37 (95% CI, 0.97–19.72), p = 0.054]. Conclusion The findings highlight the need for targeted structural and psychosocial interventions in low SES households and especially in urban areas.


2017 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Angeline Gnanaselvam ◽  
Bobby Joseph

Stress and depression are common in textile industry employees due to inadequate working conditions and challenging socioeconomic conditions. The objective of the study was to assess depression and mental health among adolescent and young females currently employed in a textile factory located in Tamil Nadu compared with past employees and women who have never been employed. This cross-sectional study included a total of 107 participants in each study group who were interviewed. The Patient Health Questionnaire–9 and Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire were administered to screen participants for depression and mental health. More current employees (16.82%) and past employees (15.88%) suffered from depression severe enough to require treatment compared with never employed girls and young women (2.8%). Of the study participants, 59.8% of current employees, 63.6% of past employees, and 32.7% of never employed women had mental health or behavior problems. In the regression model, history of abuse was significantly associated with depression. Participants who were current employees and reported family debt and a history of abuse were significantly more likely to have mental health or behavior problems. Mental health issues such as depression and behavior problems were more likely among adolescent girls currently employed in textile industries. Further studies into the causes of this phenomenon are needed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 331
Author(s):  
Yeni Indrawatiningsih ◽  
ST Aisjah Hamid ◽  
Erma Puspita Sari ◽  
Heru Listiono

Anemia is a major health problem for people in the world, especially in developing countries, about 50-80% of anemia is caused by iron deficiency. The purpose of this study was to determine the factors that influence the occurrence of young women. This research is an analytical survey with a cross sectional research design, the study was conducted in May - June 2020 in the village of Sidomakmur, Gumawang Community Health Center, East OKU Regency, the population in this study were all young women recorded by village midwives in Sidomakmur Village, totaling 212 people. and the sample is some of the young women who take part in the Posyandu Youth in Sidomakmur Village, amounting to 98 people, through Proportional Random Sampling, univariate (proportion), bivariate (chi square test) and multivariate (logistic regression) analysis. The results of the analysis showed that adolescent education (p value: 0,000), parents' income (p value: 0.012) and adolescent nutritional status (p vaue: 0,000) had a significant relationship with the incidence of anemia in adolescent girls, while adolescent age (p value: 0.224). ) does not have a significant relationship with the incidence of anemia in adolescent girls, while the age of adolescents. Based on the final model of multivariate analysis, the variable that had the greatest influence on anemia status was the variable nutritional status. It is necessary to provide counseling to young women and improve the way of delivering information when young women conduct examinations on how to prevent anemia, both in the form of a good healthy lifestyle and how to maintain health for the growth and development of young women themselves. 


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