Helping parents in developing countries improve adolescents' health

of conceptual models, theories and bodies of research. However, most projects are
unaware of the concept of roles in parenting, and of the importance of emphasizing
particular roles in achieving particular outcomes. Most strikingly, some programmes
with target outcomes, including changing risky sexual behaviour, have typically not
focused their parenting interventions on behavioural control.
• Designing curricula: Existing curricula often do not fit a given project’s target
population and culture, and creating a new curriculum is time-consuming. Also,
parents with low literacy pose added challenges. Some programmes are solving this
problem by adapting existing curricula, sometimes blending parts of 2 or 3 curricula.
The Youth Intervention Programme in Kenya, targeting sexual and reproductive health
in adolescents, adapted a US-based curriculum (the Parents Matter! Programme)
for its parent component, as well as two US-based curricula for its adolescent-focused
materials (Making a Difference and Making Proud Choices). Of the 34 projects
identified in 2006, 21 projects had developed their own curricula or guides, and 6
had adapted pre-existing materials, either from other developing countries or from
the United States.
• Poverty, famine, homelessness, domestic violence and war: Desperate conditions
require parents to turn their attention to survival needs, and often prevent them
from focusing on adolescents’ behaviour. Also, the psychological impact of
trauma and neglect is passed from generation to generation. When parents have not
experienced, for example, connection and safety in their own childhoods, it is difficult
for projects to foster it with one-off activities.
• Sustainability and scale: Most projects are donor-driven, and funding patterns
tend to encourage projects that are biased toward prevention of immediate, shortterm
negative outcomes rather than promotion of long-term protective factors. Lack
of resources, including funds and technical knowledge, also prevent programmes
from conducting the kinds of evaluation that are needed for long-term sustainability.
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28 Helping parents in developing countries improve adolescents’ health