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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Sanyukta Mathur, MHS and Anju Malhotra, PhD. International Center for Research on Women, 1717 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Suite 302, Washington, DC 20036, 202-797-0007, ext 121, smathur@icrw.org
In South Asia, parents play an important role in the lives of young people. Strategic involvement of parents is critical to building a supportive environment for youth reproductive health programs. At the end of this presentation, programmers working in developing countries will be able to articulate and apply the benefits of building parental support for youth reproductive health programs.
This presentation is based on data from an on-going project by ICRW, EngenderHealth, and in-country partners, in Nepal. The project aims to test the innovative potential and effectiveness of a participatory approach -- involving adolescents and the adults central to their lives in defining key issues, prioritizing service needs and gaps, and in program design and implementation -- to improve adolescent reproductive health in Nepal. The target group is married and unmarried, male and female youth, aged 14 and 24 years.
During the formative research, we found that although most parents follow traditional norms with regard to youth reproductive health issues, their attitudes and ideals about the future of young people are more progressive. Despite current patterns to the contrary, urban and rural parents support later age at marriage, delayed childbearing, and the provision of reproductive health information and services to married and unmarried youth. Building on these findings, the project team is implementing interventions that involve parents in a variety of activities, including workshops that explore youth health concerns and inter-generational communication. Such innovative activities involving adults have created invaluable support for other youth-centered activities in the community.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Adolescents, Reproductive Health
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.