Evaluating the implementation of the Peer Educator Intervention for improving adolescent health in India's National Adolescent Health Programme
Medical Research Council
Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI)
India is home to 243 million adolescents, yet they remain an understudied population in India with lack of data on the health indicators for this age group and current levels of knowledge on adolescent health issues and effective approaches on reaching marginalized adolescents. In 2014, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), Government of India launched a comprehensive National Adolescent Health Programme (Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram-RKSK), to emphasize on community-based health promotion and strengthening preventive, diagnostic and curative service across health system related to 6 strategic health priorities. RKSK includes a peer educator (PE) programme, which seeks to ensure that adolescents benefit from sustained peer education and is expected to improve knowledge, attitudes and life skills of adolescents. The PE programme is also expected to change parental and community norms towards the need for adolescent friendly health services, leading to increased attendance to Adolescent Friendly Health Clinics (AFHCs) and subsequently positive adolescent health outcomes. This study will evaluate the impact and process of PE intervention as an integrated component of the RKSK and also explore its interaction with other RKSK components. It will further undertake economic analysis of costs related to implementing PE intervention for guiding scale up. This implementation research will be conducted in 4 high priority districts of 2 Indian states (2 each in Madhya Pradesh & Andhra Pradesh). Mixed methods approach will evaluate the process of the PE programme and its effects on primary outcomes at the adolescent (knowledge, attitudes, life skills, practices) and parental (attitudes, communication) levels as well as impact on PE skills and attendance at AFHCs. The research project also aims to provide guidance to MoHFW on modifying, scaling up and sustaining the PE programme and share findings with countries adapting RKSK.
8.4 Research design and methodologies (health services) / Research Grant