The SHAZ! Project: Results from a Pilot Randomized Trial of a Structural Intervention to Prevent HIV among Adolescent Women in Zimbabwe.

/ / Faculty Research in Africa, Research

CGPH FACULTY: Nancy Padian

DATE OF PUBLICATION: November 2014

REGION: Africa

REFERENCE: Dunbar MS, Kang Dufour MS, Lambdin B, Mudekunye-Mahaka I, Nhamo D, Padian NS. The SHAZ! Project: Results from a Pilot Randomized Trial of a Structural Intervention to Prevent HIV among Adolescent Women in Zimbabwe. PLoS One. 2014 Nov 21;9(11):e113621. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0113621. eCollection 2014.

SUMMARY/ABSTRACT: Adolescent females in Zimbabwe are at high risk for HIV acquisition. Shaping the Health of Adolescents in Zimbabwe (SHAZ!) was a randomized controlled trial of a combined intervention package including life-skills and health education, vocational training, micro-grants and social supports compared to life-skills and health education alone. SHAZ! was originally envisioned as a larger effectiveness trial, however, the intervention was scaled back due to contextual and economic conditions in the country at the time. SHAZ! enrolled 315 participants randomly assigned to study arm within blocks of 50 participants (158 intervention and 157 control). Overall the results of the SHAZ! study suggest important potential for HIV prevention intervention packages that include vocational training and micro-grants, and lessons for further economic livelihoods interventions with adolescent females. Further work is needed to refine the intervention model, and test the impact of the intervention at scale on biological outcomes.

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