Policy & Impact

 

Evidence-based Recommendations

Evidence into Action

The study’s impact will be two-fold. First, hey baby will contribute to a rigorous evidence base on pathways to promote resilience among adolescent parent families. Second, the study actively shares findings with programme implementers, policymakers and other interested stakeholders at the local (Eastern Cape, South Africa), national (South Africa), regional (Eastern and Southern Africa), and international levels.

Purposeful and audience-specific dissemination of research progress and findings with stakeholders is central to the work of hey baby. The team engages with both academic and non-academic stakeholders involved in programme implementation and policy. The team conducted a community audit and stakeholder mapping which informed the study’s targeted dissemination networks. This enhances the reach of the study’s impact activities. It also ensures findings reach stakeholders with major influence in adolescent health and maternal and child health policy and programming. Evidence generated from this study supports programme implementers to develop and implement evidence-based interventions to improve services for adolescent parent families.

Ongoing and iterative engagement with stakeholders ensures that research questions and analyses directly respond to the needs of policymakers and programme implementers. Once findings are rigorously tested, results and recommendations are shared with stakeholders without delay. Evidence-based recommendations are shared with stakeholders in the form of presentations, trainings, workshops, webinars, consultations as well as through general media to reach a wider public audience.

Major international and regional policy stakeholders have been involved in the conceptualization of this project. Partners include international organisations and Southern Africa-based child-focused organisations who form the project’s Policy Advisory Group: UNICEF, USAID-PEPFAR, the World Health Organisation, UNAIDS, the Regional Inter-Agency Task Team for Children (RIATT), Paediatric AIDS Treatment for Africa (PATA) and the Regional Psychosocial Support Initiative (REPSSI).