CERCA, Community-embedded reproductive health care for adolescents in Latin America

 

To contribute to the global knowledge about how health systems could be more responsive to the sexual and reproductive health needs of adolescents.
Development of a comprehensive framework for community-embedded interventions targeted at improved access to quality primary health services, a supporting and enabling environment, and strengthened competence to make reproductive health choices.

 

To assess the sexual and reproductive health needs of adolescents in the three Latin American partner countries (Bolivia, Nicaragua and Ecuador);
To develop a comprehensive strategy of interventions targeted at enhanced access to adolescent-friendly reproductive care in primary health services
To develop an approach to reach adolescents for awareness raising activities and for survey purposes through the use of media (internet and text messages);
To implement and monitor the strategy of interventions and to perform an impact evaluation of the developed intervention strategy;
To develop a strategy to bridge the gap between research and policy by involving policy and decision makers actively in the research process;

 

Community-based participatory action research
Qualitative research: participant observation ethnographic fieldwork in Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua
Quantitative research: surveys and review of literature and politics (to define sexual and reproductive health determinant for adolescents)
Use of media (internet and text messages) 

 

Study of literature and politics in Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua
Fieldwork and analysis
Setting up 4 Community Advisory Boards (Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Belgium)
Develop, implement and evaluate an intervention strategy
Getting politicians involved
Awareness raising and dissemination of research results

 

Contribute to the global knowledge about how health systems could be more responsive to the sexual and reproductive health needs of adolescents.
Improving access for adolescents to quality primary health services, a supporting and enabling environment, and strengthened competence to make reproductive health choices.
A strategy to bridge the gap between research and policy.
Establishment of 4 Community Advisory Boards (Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Belgium)
An international conference
Publications: Scientific articles and policy documents

 

Sexual onset and contraceptive use among adolescents from poor neighbourhoods in Managua, Nicaragua : 
A cross-sectional study on attitudes toward gender equality, sexual behavior, positive sexual experiences, and communication about sex among sexually active and non-sexually active adolescents in Bolivia and Ecuador: 

Community embedded reproductive health interventions for adolescents in Latin America: development and evaluation of a complex multi-centre intervention
Factorial validation of the Attitudes toward Women Scale for Adolescents (AWSA) in assessing sexual behaviour patterns in Bolivian and Ecuadorian adolescents