|
Neil Boris, Lisanne Brown, and Tonya Thurman. "Impact of mentorship
program on well-being of youth-headed households in Rwanda."
ABSTRACT
Background
Youth-headed households (YHHs) are common in Rwanda: AIDS and the
genocide left many children living with limited adult care. The
scale of the YHH problem requires innovative solutions. Using
trained adult volunteers from the community to develop a stable
relationship with children through regular home visits is one
potentially scalable approach. However, there is little empirical
evidence on the effectiveness of mentoring programs.
Methods
A quasi-experimental study of 692 YHHs residing in four
districts was conducted from 2004 to 2006. All households received
basic needs assistance (e.g., school fees) from World Vision.
Following the 2004 baseline survey an adult mentorship program was
implemented in two districts. The comprehensive survey instrument
was developed, extensively piloted, and administered by trained
interviewers to YHHs. Primary outcome measures include Center for
Epidemiologic Studies Depression Rating Scale (CES-D) and indexes of
social marginalization, grief, and adult support. Logistic regression
was conducted to assess the impact of the program on these outcomes.
Results
Survey subscales had good psychometric properties. The
proportion of survey respondents reporting high adult support in the
intervention group was significantly higher at time two than time
one; there was no difference in the comparison group. The
intervention group also reported modest though significant
decreases in depressive symptoms, marginalization, and grief.
Conclusions
The mentorship program resulted in increased adult support among
the YHHs. However, the impact of the program on emotional well-being
was more modest. More intensive interventions may be needed for
those with high levels of depressive symptoms.
Learning objectives
- Describe the impact of mentorship on the emotional
well-being of youth living in youth-headed households.
- Recognize the role of mentorship programs in addressing the
emotional needs of youth living in youth-headed households.
Poster Session 5015.0—Topics in HIV/AIDS
Wednesday, 7 November 2007,
8:30–9:30
am
APHA 2007 Conference Web site
|
