STARTING FROM THE ROOTS—USING HUMAN CENTERED DESIGN TO INNOVATE AN ADOLESCENT-CENTRED PREGNANCY PROGRAM IN WESTERN KENYA

Objectives Adolescent pregnancy rates in Kenya remain high. Health and socio-economic outcomes are poor. Little has changed since the introduction of government policy to address adolescent sexual and reproductive health in 2003. As an innovative approach to address this issue, we aim to use human-centered design to build an adolescent-centered pregnancy program in Western Kenya. We further aim to demonstrate that this approach is feasible and acceptable to all involved stakeholders. Methods A team of 8 Kenyan designers, including pregnant or parenting adolescents, were recruited at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital to learn human centered design. Designers were required to commitment to 2 weeks and 100% attendance. Further community stakeholders were recruited as research participants for context and co-creation labs. Results Our partner Idea Couture taught the Design Team qualitative research methodologies and prototyping of ideas. A total of six 1:1 interviews and 9 focus groups as context and co-creation labs were completed. There were 10 programmatic solutions generated, including Healthcare Provider Empathy Training, Community Outreach Support, and Peer Support Groups, under the umbrella of an Adolescent-Centered Clinic. The design team members found the process to be engaging and empowering; attendance was 100%. Conclusions Human centered design is a unique methodology to generate solutions to complex health challenges that target both patient experience and health outcomes. Partnerships with industry firms such as Idea Couture provide both research and care driven initiatives with unique expertise to facilitate this process. Next steps include engaging the design team in launching and evaluating the top priority prototypes.