Adolescent perspectives on peripartum mental health prevention and promotion from Kenya: Findings from a design thinking approach
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Date
2023Author
Kathono, Joseph
Nyongesa, Vincent
Mwaniga, Shillah
Obonyo, Georgina
Obadia, Yator
Wambugu, Maryann
Banerjee, Joy
Breuer, Erica
Malia, Duffy
Lai, Joanna
Levy, Marcy
Njuguna, Simon
Kumar, Manasi
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
In Kenya, approximately one in five girls aged 15-19 years old are pregnant or already a mother. Adolescent girls and young women experience significant mental health vulnerabilities during the pregnancy and postpartum periods, leading to poor antenatal and postnatal care attendance and inferior infant and maternal health outcomes. Pregnant adolescents often experience stigma and disenfranchisement due to their pregnancy status and at the same time lack access to mental health support within health settings, schools, religious institutions, and communities. This paper presents the results of qualitative interviews embedded within the human-centered design (HCD) process used to adapt the Helping Adolescents Thrive (HAT) program for Kenyan peripartum adolescents including young fathers. This qualitative study used two phases. First, a HAT advisory group participated in a series of four workshops to help identify and articulate mental health promotion needs and deepened the team's understanding of youth-centered thinking. Second, qualitative interviews were conducted with 39 pregnant and parenting adolescents to understand their perspectives on mental health prevention and promotion. Pregnant and parenting adolescents articulated different needs including poor support, stigma, and psychological disturbances. Parenting adolescents reported disturbed relationships, managing motherhood, poor health, and social empowerment. Participants highlighted sources of stress including economic challenges, fear of delivery, strained relationships, rejection, and stigma. Participants described psychological disturbances such as feeling stressed, worthless, withdrawn, and suicidal. Coping mechanisms reported by participants included engaging in domestic activities, hobbies, and social networking. Peers, family and spirituality were identified as important sources of support, as well as school integration, livelihoods, support groups and mentorships. Findings from this study can be used to strengthen and adapt HAT program, policy and practice for mental health prevention and promotion for pregnant and parenting adolescents.
Citation
Kathono J, Nyongesa V, Mwaniga S, Obonyo G, Yator O, Wambugu M, Banerjee J, Breuer E, Duffy M, Lai J, Levy M, Njuguna S, Kumar M. Adolescent perspectives on peripartum mental health prevention and promotion from Kenya: Findings from a design thinking approach. PLoS One. 2024 Jan 2;19(1):e0290868. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0290868. PMID: 38165879; PMCID: PMC10760697.Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
- Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) [10378]
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