Helping parents in developing countries improve adolescents' health

• Mass media campaigns: Occasionally, projects focus strictly on mass distribution
of basic information via available media, such as radio, television, newspapers
and newsletters.
In roughly half of the projects, activities are delivered to parents and adolescents separately.
Other projects organize activities for parents and adolescents separately and together.
The settings where activities take place also vary significantly, reflecting the inventiveness
of planners in stretching resources and goals to embed activities in existing community life.
A number of projects conduct activities in schools, in collaboration with school systems;
others use project facilities, buildings in community and faith-based organizations, as well
as family homes.
All projects regard parents as one component of a larger, multi-pronged set
of interventions
Good Parenting Calendar (Jamaica)
This typically includes activities directed to
adolescents themselves, and sometimes for school
personnel, community leaders, health workers, and
media organizations. All projects place a priority
on engaging the local community in their parenting
interventions. Some hold community meetings or
focus groups, or work with village communities
or local technical committees. Some incorporate
a parenting curriculum into pre-existing groups,
while others create their own groups and offer
them in community spaces. Some projects mobilize
community leaders as teachers or mentors. For
example, the Friends of Youth project in Kenya,
works within the traditional Kikuyu system called
Atiri, in which certain community members are
designated as mentors and are trained to provide
information on sexual and reproductive health to
parents and youth.
In identifying group leaders or counsellors, some projects draw on staff from within their
organizations or on local professionals, such as paediatricians or teachers, while others use
(parent) peers or community leaders. Whether professionals or peers, counsellors or group
leaders receive specific training to carry out the activities directed to parents.
Content offered to parents includes:
• Information: Projects typically provide parents with some information related to the
project’s overall objective, such as information on sexual and reproductive health,
signs of substance use, or the availability of community resources. Some also offer
general information on adolescent development, with the aim of assisting parents
24 Helping parents in developing countries improve adolescents’ health