Acceptability and cultural appropriateness of a parenting programme to reduce violence against adolescents in Tanzania delivered at scale: Implications for scale-up.

Abstract

Although parenting programmes may be effective at reducing violence against children (VAC), there is a limited understanding on how acceptable and appropriate such programmes are among parents/caregivers ('caregivers') when delivered at scale. This paper explores the acceptability and cultural appropriateness of a parenting programme for caregivers and their adolescent girls, Parenting for Lifelong Health for Teens (PLH-Teens), which was delivered at scale in rural and semi-urban Tanzania. This paper employed a qualitative research design involving 18 focus group discussions (FGDs) with caregivers (N = 120) and adolescent girls (N = 60). Participants reported that the programme was acceptable, culturally appropriate, and beneficial. The use of participatory approaches and in-person group sessions was appealing to caregivers. However, several challenges hindered consistent engagement. These factors ranged from initial community mistrust about the programme, social norms on parenting, and group interactions to individual-level participant factors, stigma, and feeling of shame for being selected to join a programme. Overall, PLH-Teens programme was perceived as addressing the real parenting needs of caregivers and their adolescents. There is a need to address the challenges families experienced as these could hinder the acceptability, sustainability, and continued scale up of PLH-Teens in future programme delivery.