Adolescent mental health

In sub-Saharan Africa, rates of adolescent motherhood are the highest globally, and state services remain limited. In these regions, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) play a pivotal role in meeting the complex support needs of adolescent mothers. However, CSOs often face significant structural challenges in delivering integrated interventions.

Prof Lucie Cluver's recent research involving over 1,000 adolescent mothers in South Africa’s Eastern Cape underscores the importance of integrated, intersectoral services. The study reveals that a combination of health and childcare services, self-efficacy programmes, and educational support could significantly improve key development outcomes for adolescent mothers and their children.

Now, Prof Cluver's CPP project will bring together representatives from civil society organisations which aim to support adolescent girls, and through a series of structured workshop activities, enable them to:

(1) identify existing networks and collaborations;

(2) identify opportunities and obstacles to intersectoral working; and

(3) determine shared priorities for the development of intersectoral services, informed by the latest research evidence.

The team will generate a practical ‘roadmap’ - an open-source tool that CSOs can utilise to develop new intersectoral interventions for adolescent health.