Development Issues: Youth, Women, Reproductive Health

Programme Summary

PATH (Program for Appropriate Technology in Health) is an international, nonprofit, non-governmental organization with headquarters in Seattle, WA, and offices in Washington, D.C., Jakarta, Nairobi, Manila, Bangkok, and Kiev. PATH's mission is to improve health, especially the health of women and children in developing countries. Since 1976, PATH has implemented more than 500 health and family planning projects in 85 developing countries. In recognition of its expertise, PATH has been designated by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a Collaborating Center on AIDS, Research in Human Reproduction, and Hepatitis B Vaccination.

PATH identifies, develops, and applies appropriate, safe, effective and innovative technology-based solutions to public health problems, particularly in the areas of communicable diseases, family planning, and reproductive health. PATH has developed several innovative programs to in response to the AIDS epidemic, two of which are reviewed below.

Summary of ICT Initiatives

RiskAdvisor Project – In 1995 PATH (Program for Appropriate Technology in Health) developed RiskAdvisor, an easy-to-use interactive software program that allows individuals to assess their personal risk of HIV infection based on their present patterns of behaviour. The program then helps to develop goals to change their behaviour, thereby reducing their risk of infection or transmission. "RiskAdvisor, and computer-based assessment and learning programs like it, hold promise as powerful educational tools by providing simulated experiences that allow individuals to experiment with behaviour change strategies," states Dr. Sharon Baker, University of Washington, School of Social Work.

RiskAdvisor was designed by HIV counsellors for HIV counsellors to help them talk with their clients about potentially embarrassing topics and to show graphically how behaviour affects risk of exposure to HIV. While many people are knowledgeable about AIDS, even those at high risk of exposure to HIV often do not perceive themselves as vulnerable to infection. Clients have reported feeling more comfortable answering questions about sexual and injection practices when interacting with RiskAdvisor than they would have if being personally interviewed by a counsellor. RiskAdvisor has been translated for use in AIDS prevention programs in Nepal, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand.

The program, supplied on 3.5" diskettes, requires a 386 or faster computer with Windows and a mouse. A less explicit version, RiskTeacher, is available for more general risk reduction education, as well as Village RiskAdvisor, a paper-based version of RiskAdvisor.

Interactive Games Project – In March 2003, the PATH launched a mass media project that uses a web-based interactive computer game to promote adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) among young people in Bangkok, Thailand. The game is intended to entertain 13- to 15-year-olds while it educates them.

A game design expert from Microsoft Games visited Bangkok to provide training workshops and brainstorming sessions. The government is supporting the effort by following through on its commitment to provide computers to all schools around the country, including rural sites, and to provide Internet connections.

Placing the game on the Web allows use of the technology known as "cookies", which enable the project to anonymously keep an ongoing profile of each player and to record his or her accuracy in terms of answering questions in the game. This strategy will provide feedback to inform future adjustments to the game. Organizers claim that, in Bangkok, more than 250,000 youth frequent Internet cafes per week to play computer games. A pretest in late 2002 showed a positive reaction to the game.

Partners: M-WEB, university fellows, Microsoft Games, the Thai government.

Source: Letters sent from Teresa Guillien to The Communication Initiative on December 9, 11, and 20, 2002, and the PATH website.

For More Information Contact:

Ken Kutsch

Behavior Change Communications Program Officer

Program for Appropriate Technologies in Health (PATH)

1800 K St, NW

Suite 800

Washington, DC 20006 USA

Tel.: (202) 822-0033

Fax: (202) 457-1466

kkutsch@path-dc.org

kenkutsch@hotmail.com

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