School Support as Structural HIV Prevention for Adolescent Orphans in Kenya

School Support as Structural HIV Prevention for Adolescent Orphans in Kenya

The purpose of this study is to test whether school support can keep adolescent Kenyan orphans in school, reduce sexual risk behaviors, and prevent HIV /HSV-2 infection.

This study examines the impact of school support as a structural intervention, tested among adolescent orphans in Siaya District, Nyanza Province, Kenya.

Aims for the proposed study are: 1) To experimentally test whether providing comprehensive school support to Kenyan orphaned boys and girls will reduce school dropout, reduce sexual risk behaviors, and prevent HIV/HSV-2 infection; 2) To conduct a process evaluation of the implementation of the program; and 3) To conduct comparative cost effectiveness analyses, specifying the intervention's cost and return on investment as evidenced by cost per unit improvement in the primary outcomes of school enrollment, delay of sexual debut and prevention of risk behaviors and HIV/HSV-2 infection, as well as by gains in health-related quality of life.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Orphan (one or both parents deceased)
• In Grade 7 or 8 in a primary school participating in the study