Health Action in ScHools for a Thriving Adolescent Generation (HASHTAG)

Background: 

Health Action in ScHools for a Thriving Adolescent Generation (HASHTAG) is a 2-year project funded by UK Medical Research Council (MRC) which is being implemented in Nepal and South Africa. It is led by the University of Stellenbosch, Cape Town, South Africa.

Globally, many adolescents live in unstable environments, where poverty, conflict, or abuse is common. In low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), multiple factors place adolescents at special risk. Factors such as poverty, migration, interpersonal violence, early and forced marriage, contrasts between adolescents’ lived reality and their aspirations, and gender norms can pose structural and societal barriers to adolescent well-being. When experienced from an early age, these risk factors can lead to later suboptimal mental health, mental disorders, or risky behaviors, such as substance use, or physical violence. As a result, mental health represents an important area for intervention. HASHTAG aims to address the gap in evidence by developing and adapting a multilevel, multi-component gender-sensitive intervention targeting a range of negative mental and physical health outcomes by promoting positive mental health; preventing mental disorders (specifically, depression and anxiety); and preventing a range of risk behaviors (substance use, violence, problem sexual behaviors) among at-risk adolescents.

Outcome: 

School-based prevention and promotion intervention has been developed. 

Target group: HASHTAG is a multilevel school-based health improvement intervention for young at-risk adolescents aged 11-15 years.

Implementation area: HASHTAG will be implemented in Kanepokhari Rural Municipality of Morang district.

Time frame: Two years (April 2020 to March 2022)

Supported by: UK Medical Research Council (MRC)

Partners: Stellenbosch University (SU), Transcultural Psychosocial Organization (TPO) Nepal, World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), and the University of Cape Town (UCT)