Developing and Testing the Jenga Dada Intervention in Kenya

Overview

This study aims to work with women's economic empowerment groups within the community to address reproductive coercion and intimate partner violence and promote economic self-sufficiency among women (aged 15+ years). Based on the investigators' previous research in the United States, Bangladesh, and Kenya, the ARCHES (Addressing Reproductive Coercion in Health Settings) intervention is a highly effective clinic-based model to improve women's ability to use family planning and cope with abuse. Due to common requests for community-based support, content from the ARCHES intervention along with Girls Invest, an economic empowerment intervention implemented in the US and Nigeria, is being adapted to develop Jenga Dada, which means "Build a Woman Up" in Kiswahili, to be delivered to women's economic empowerment groups. The study will conduct formative research among women's economic empowerment group members, develop the Jenga Dada intervention, and conduct a pilot cluster randomized controlled trial to assess preliminary efficacy of the intervention on proximal outcomes (i.e., self-efficacy) and feasibility and acceptability.

Background: This project aims to develop and preliminarily evaluate an intervention, Jenga Dada, on its feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy to increase women's and girl's ability to successfully cope with reproductive coercion (RC), intimate partner violence (IPV), economic abuse, and promote reproductive health and economic self-sufficiency among women participating in economic empowerment groups in rural and peri-urban areas of Uasin Gishu county, Kenya. Jenga Dada is being developed as an innovative hybrid approach based on adaptation and integration of core content from two effective interventions: ARCHES (Addressing Reproductive Coercion in Health Settings) and Girls Invest. ARCHES is a clinic-based contraceptive counseling intervention designed and demonstrated to support voluntary contraceptive use and reduce physical IPV. ARCHES was originally designed in the U.S. and has been adapted to and evaluated, with positive results, in Bangladesh and Nairobi, Kenya, and is currently being adapted for scale-up in public sector facilities in Uasin Gishu county, Kenya. Girls Invest is a mobile health application (mHealth app) with integrated intervention modules on gender, IPV, and financial literacy demonstrated to be feasible and acceptable among adolescent girls in the U.S. and Nigeria (efficacy evaluation ongoing). Jenga Dada combines the information and education from ARCHES and Girls Invest in a group discussion-based curriculum, delivered by a local women's empowerment non-governmental organization (NGO), that aims to build social support for women, delivered within women's economic empowerment groups as they move towards economic self-sufficiency, reproductive autonomy, and violence-free relationships. Intervention: Jenga Dada educational sessions will be delivered to existing women's economic empowerment group participants during regular meetings by a facilitator from a local NGO. Sessions will include education and facilitated group discussions on gender, RC, IPV, economic abuse, and financial literacy to bolster understanding, shift attitudes and norms, and support peers on these issues. One 60-minute guided group discussion will take place for each of the eight training modules during the weekly or bi-weekly women's economic empowerment group meetings. Methodology: This pilot trial will test the hypothesis that women participating in Jenga Dada will report improved proximal outcomes regarding a) coping with economic abuse, IPV, and RC (self-efficacy to seek assistance for IPV and coping strategies to maintain contraceptive use in the face of opposition) and b) self-efficacy to seek support for violence experiences from women's economic group members. Study activities include formative research to inform development of Jenga Dada based on the lived experience of women and girls and implementers in this context, pilot testing, and evaluation of the effects of Jenga Dada on violence, reproductive health, and economic outcomes. The evaluation will occur in two phases via random assignment of 18 existing women's economic empowerment groups to receive either Jenga Dada or standard women's economic empowerment group programming with baseline and 4-month follow-up survey data collected (n=280 participants, ages 15+ years). Post-program qualitative data from participants and implementers will be collected and analyzed to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the program.