 | The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
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| The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA |
Muadi Mukenge, MA, Pacific Institute for Women's Health, 3450 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1000, Los Angeles, CA 90010, (213) 386-2600, piwh@piwh.org and Yacouba Yaro, PhD, RH Consultant, BP 5472, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
Community-based youth serving organizations (YSOs) in rural Burkina Faso implemented programs in three rural communities to improve the health-seeking behavior of adolescents and to develop positive life skills among youth. This paper will present findings from evaluation research on the implementation of community-driven interventions, using an intensive community participation methodology, to address youth sexual and reproductive health. The target communities identified the following priority issues: 1) prevention of STDs and HIV; 2) prevention of unwanted pregnancies; 3) prevention of female genital mutilation; 4) improving parent-child communication; 5) and increasing use of health services by youth. Intervention strategies over the three years of the project included training of peer educators and hosting community forums on sexual and reproductive health.
The evaluation findings include: 1) changes in youth KAP and negotiation and communication skills; 2) changes in the capacity of YSOs to develop and monitor ARH programs; 3) the extent to which community ownership was fostered through the community participation methodology. Data was collected pre- and post- intervention using quantitative survey questionnaires with youth ages 13-24, parents, service providers and community leaders. Qualitative assessments were completed with peer educators. A total of 1100 youth and 140 community resource persons were surveyed during the three-year program. The evaluation results provide useful lessons for other programs seeking to address the sexual and reproductive health needs of adolescents through community participation. They also provide recommendations for a more effective execution of a large-scale evaluation, as well as strategies to facilitate sustainability of community programs.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Community Participation, Adolescent Health
Related Web page: www.piwh.org
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.