Factors associated with inconsistent participation in the ‘Rise Young Women’s clubs’ Social and Behaviour Change Communication Programme

Abstract

Background: Despite several efforts to reduce incidence of HIV infection among adolescent girls and young women in the Sub-Saharan African region, new infections persist in this group. The Rise Young Women’s Club is a peer group initiative implemented across South Africa aiming to create a platform where adolescent girls and young women work on community projects as teams, encouraging and supporting each other particularly in preventing HIV for those who are not infected, and supporting girls and young women who are already HIV positive and have sexual and reproductive health concerns. However, little is known of factors associated with participating inconsistently in this initiative. Objectives: To identify factors associated with inconsistent participation in the Rise Young Women’s Clubs. Methods: This secondary data analysis used Rise Young Women’s Clubs’ endline data from participants who joined the clubs between 2014 and 2016. The 2635 study participants who were young women and girls aged 15 – 24 years old resided in KwaZulu Natal, Free State, Mpumalanga, Eastern Cape and North West provinces. Factors examined included socio demographic factors, sexual risk behaviour factors, access to support factors and club/ intervention related factors. Descriptive statistical methods were used to define the socio demographic, sexual risk behaviour, access to support and club/ intervention related characteristics of the study sample. Logistic regression analytical methods were used to identify the factors associated with inconsistent participation. Results: The total number of participants for the study was 2635, with 581 (22.0%) classified as inconsistent participants and 2054 (78.0%) as consistent participants. Participants were mostly from rural areas (67.4%). There was no evidence to suggest that age or having children was associated with inconsistent participation in club activities, (Age: adjusted odd ratio (aOR) = 1.057, 95% confidence interval

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[0.982 - 1.137], p-value = 0.141), (Having children: adjusted odds ratio (aOR = 1.312, 95% confidence interval [0.840 – 2.049], p-value = 0.232). Compared to those who had watched most of the Rise Talk Show episodes (the reference), participants who did not know about the program or had watched a few episodes, had lower odds of participating inconsistently. However, there is no evidence to support association with inconsistent participation as the p-values are greater than 0.05. Participants reporting that their clubs were managed satisfactorily had higher odds of participating consistently than those reporting that their clubs were managed badly. Participants who had a peer to talk to about HIV had lesser odds of participating inconsistently in club activities compared to those who did not have any one to talk to (aOR = 0.599, 95% confidence interval [0.449 – 0.798], p-value < 0.001). Conclusion: This study has yielded interesting and important findings about participation in the Rise Young Women’s clubs. A fundamental issue to participating less inconsistently in such initiatives is optimal and supportive management. Attention should be given to managing clubs efficiently so that adolescent girls and young women will be encouraged to participate.