PROMOTE Project 2022 Newsletter

Abstract

During the second quarter of 2022, APHRC developed the adolescent mothers’ clubs curriculum. The curriculum contains 24 sessions and has been adapted from the Population Council’s Adolescent Girls Initiative – Kenya Safe Spaces curriculum; the Mphatlalatsane (Early Morning Star) Health and Nutrition Programme Manual; the Maternal and Child Health Handbook (Ministry of Public Health - Cameroon) and the Parenting for Lifelong Health Programme for Young Children (Facilitator manual). In Malawi, the adolescent mothers’ clubs will be facilitated by health surveillance assistants (HSAs), who are community health workers paid by the government, while in Burkina Faso, community health and hygiene agents will facilitate the clubs. Given their role as a bridge between the community and the health sector, working with community health workers will be critical in facilitating access to SRH and child health services for adolescent mothers and their children. The curriculum is made of three components; financial literacy, childcare and lifeskills. Some of the topics covered are mental health, HIV and AIDS/STIs, sexual and reproductive health, how to save, income cycles, spending priorities, communication about money, growth and nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene, bonding with your child, giving specific, positive and realistic instructions to our children, praising and rewarding, and using consequences to support compliance, among others.