Sexual and Reproductive Health

TEAM

Client: Center for Social and Behavior Change
Funder: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
5 Research Interns (I was part of this team)

SCOPE

Increasing awareness about sexual health practices, contraceptives,
and the importance of using condoms to prevent pregnancies and
STDs
Designing intervention tools and methods to ensure an increased
‘ability’ amongst students to buy and use condoms
Present final findings, conclusions and suggestions based on primary
and secondary research

DELIVERABLES

Prototype of three behavioral interventions
Presentation to client and funder
Research Report

Designing behavioral interventions to increase the uptake of condom usage among young adults

Changing Placement of Condoms

Barriers Identified: Embarrassment in interaction with pharmacists and in spending time with other customers on the
counter
Solution:
1. Reduce Human to Human interaction
2. Reduce counter time

Intervention:
Increase visibility, approachability and accessibility

Fun quiz on

Barriers Identified: Incomplete knowledge about sex, sexual health practices and contraceptives
Solution:
Using creative, interactive and engaging means to disseminate information for better
retention and more receptiveness

Intervention: The quizzes have 10 questions in total of which 5 questions are targeted towards spreading
awareness and providing information and other give questions would just be fun questions.

Process

My team and I worked on a 10-month behavioral science-led qualitative research project in Delhi and Haryana, India

Months 1-3

Background Research

Conducted extensive literature review, on behavioral science and its application in
social and policy issues. Also studied policy interventions and academic papers on issues of family planning, adolescent sexual health, contraceptive usage in various countries, and barriers to condom usage among all age
groups.

Months 4-8

Diagnosing the Problem

A qualitative questionnaire was developed using human-centered design methods such as analogous inspiration, and reframing techniques.
Qualitative interviews were conducted with 15 students across Delhi University North Campus through convenient sampling.
Data from the interviews were then grouped into the Motivation, Ability, and Opportunity (MAO) Framework.

Months 9- 10

Creating prototypes of ideas

My team and I developed prototypes of the three behavioral intervention designs. (View Gallery)

Field Immersion Trips

Visited rural and urban areas in Delhi and Haryana to carry out immersion field trips.
Haryana: we visited local healthcare centers, and a civil hospital, and interviewed front-line healthcare (ASHA) workers
Delhi: we interviewed Delhi University students and pharmacists around the campus

Insight Formation

Using the MAO framework, we then formed insights. Some of the insights from interviewing students were:
Motivation: Most men dominate sexual and contraceptive decisions expecting the women to take emergency pills instead of using condoms, because of the patriarchal mindset.
Ability: People tend to not have complete knowledge about different contraceptives and their usages and safe sex practices.
Opportunity: Both customers and pharmacists tend to get embarrassed with the presence of other customers, thus, making the process of buying uncomfortable.

Deliverables

Presented the research findings and behavioral intervention prototypes to the funder and the client. We also wrote a final report which was then submitted to our client and the funder.

Target Group Selection

We finalized our target group as DU College students (18-24 age group) in the NorthCampus area considering the knowledge gathered and the constraints faced due to the nature of the topic, limited time as well as accessibility.
DU college students were also chosen due to the availability of a diverse group of students in terms of age, gender, economic background, and region

Designing Intervetions

Using human-centered design methods such as affinity mapping, and ideation brainstorming, our team came up with 11 intervention design ideas out of which we selected 3 intervention ideas based on feasibility and affordability.
These ideas included:
- Changing the placement of condoms in pharmacies
- Using forms of multimedia to enable a positive attitude toward sex and contraceptives
- FB game/quiz on topics of sexual health

Designing behavioral interventions to increase the uptake of condom usage among young adults

Process My team and I worked on a 10-month behavioral science-led qualitative research project in Delhi and Haryana, India

Process

My team and I worked on a 10-month behavioral science-led qualitative research project in Delhi and Haryana, India