Mass media HIV awareness and behaviour change
Intervention strategies that work for youth: summary of the FOCUS on young adults
Evaluation results of reproductive health programme interventions for youth in developing countries
Authors:
B. Finger; M. Lapetina; M. Pribila
Publisher:
YouthNet, Family Health International , 2002
What kinds of programs work in their attempts to promote youth reproductive health and HIV prevention? What factors make some programs successful and others less so? This document reports on programs that have helped young people in developing countries practice healthier behaviours, including delaying sexual debut, reducing the number of sexual partners, and increasing the use of methods for preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDS. It highlights results from 39 evaluations of program interventions for youth in developing countries, which the FOCUS on Young Adults programme has identified as having sound methodology and important results.
The report provides context about young peoples’ lives and how gender and cultural norms affect their health. It provides key research findings and programmatic efforts in three types of interventions: creating a supportive environment for young people; improving reproductive health knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours; and increasing young people’s use of reproductive health services.
The authors argue that the following findings about the types of reproductive health programs that are effective should be pursued:
- conduct continuous and broad-based advocacy to support youth reproductive health efforts: more funding and technical assistance are needed to evaluate policy efforts and to disseminate policies to the public.
- conduct well-designed reproductive health education in schools: while research shows the value of school-based interventions, more work needs to be done to determine the best designs for these efforts.
- promote condom use through social marketing programs and mass media.
- conduct broad-based community initiatives.
- build on the promise of youth-friendly services: the concept of youth-friendly services needs to be broadened to include private sector services such as pharmacies, where youth seem more comfortable in getting services.
- enhance peer programs: peer programs may not be cost-effective or sustainable, yet youth rely on their peers.
[adapted from author]
