Widen the Funnel
Rachit Shah’s presentation on the design of tools for group therapy with adolescents provided valuable insights that resonated with our FamConnect implementation ideas. This study shares commonalities with our vision for FamConnect and has expanded our understanding of the potential implementation process and the challenges it may entail. For the project for FamConnect, which offers therapy and mentoring services in Kenya, our group can draw inspiration from StrongMinds, an organization providing group therapy services in Uganda. StrongMinds aimed to enhance adolescents’ participation in group therapy through the use of engaging tools.
In this study, the target population encompassed adolescents, extending beyond just students. This revelation has been important for our project, which initially primarily focuses on implementation within school systems. It hadn’t crossed our minds to include working adolescents in our scope, yet the inclusion is clearly significant. Furthermore, to comprehensively assess the program’s challenges, feedback was gathered from StrongMinds employees, adolescents, and teachers, which serves as an excellent model. We could potentially apply a similar methodology to enhance the implementation of Group Problem Management + (GPM+), a program that shares many commonalities with the intervention implemented in Uganda. Both GPM+ and the Ugandan intervention share the goal of improving problem-solving skills, making the lessons from StrongMinds particularly relevant to our FamConnect project.
Moreover, it is crucial to emphasize the value of the knowledge that was gained through the Ugandan implementation, discerning what design tools proved effective and contributed to increased participation. This knowledge can be instrumental in sharing our approach within the FamConnect project. Some of the initial tools introduced were simple but yet incredibly revealing, such as the activity of drawing one’s family home. As Rachit pointed out, this exercise had the potential to unveil insights into family relationships, which could be of importance in identifying social support in adolescent girls exposed to Gender Based Violence (GBV). Some of the initial ice-breaker tools, such as listing five things that make you happy or five current problems and their impact, were instrumental in facilitating self-expression and sharing. It was initially observed that students were reluctant to open up, perhaps due to feeling as if they were undergoing an examination or influenced by the stigma surrounding mental health and the fear of disclosure and confidentiality. As a result, the focus groups began in a reserved and hesitant manner. However, with time, more and more adolescents started sharing their stories, and by the fourth or fifth week of the intervention, connections had strengthened.
Notably, several tools were designed to foster these connections, including Problem Cards and beads. Problem Cards encouraged adolescents to share issues anonymously, with group members providing advice and suggestions for problem-solving, thereby creating a sense of shared experiences and increasing emotional connection and safety. The use of beads, where colors prompted students to share thoughts and stories, also proved to be a valuable method for uncovering previously unshared experiences.
These insights from the Ugandan intervention can be adapted and implemented for GPM+ by FamConnect in Kenya, given that our proposed intervention also aims to enhance problem-solving skills and awareness. Moreover, it’s worth noting that the Ugandan program spans 12 weeks, whereas GPM+ is designed for five weeks. The observation that most students began sharing their stories only after week 4 or 5 suggests the need for a potential adjustment in the timeframe for our proposed intervention.
In summary, Rachit Shah’s presentation was not only insightful but also inspiring. His extensive work with adolescents offers practical guidance on what could work effectively in our setting and provides a roadmap for potential adaptations to enhance the engagement of adolescents throughout the implementation of GPM+.
