Submission ID 118553
| Issue/Objective | A key component of the Secure Salon Project was to foster a network of trained peer educators (FP Champions) with patrons of hair salons. By doing so, the project sought to create youth leaders who worked in the recruited salons, to sustain FP dialogues beyond the health workers' visits, serve as gender-inclusive advocates engaging both women and men, and ensure continued access to FP information and referrals at the community level. The project also sought to empower sexually active women to have the knowledge, autonomy and supportive environments to make informed decisions about SRH/FP issues, counsel and provide selected services if needed. |
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| Methodology/Approach | The project employed an intervention mix of education, service linkage, and peer-led advocacy by training interested salon owners and apprentices as Family Planning (FP) Champions. These young women facilitated ongoing FP conversations, counseling, and referrals within salons, creating sustainable, community-based platforms for informed reproductive health decision-making. |
| Results | Since 2020, trained health workers have been providing quality SRH/FP education, interactive engagements, and referrals for service uptake in more than 600 salons and over 600 FP Champions in the project regions. The project has since 2020 reached 13,230 people with quality SRH/FP information, 2849 referrals and 1292 people receiving voluntarily taken-up services. These services include the provision of condoms, pills, implants, IUDs, injectables, cycle beads, and sterilization. The project has also given the Secure Oral Contraceptive pill adequate mileage by providing Secure branded brochures to complement FP Champions education in their salons. The engagement of FP Champions added momentum to the project's outreach. The presence of peer educators in each salon ensures that FP conversations continue regularly, which helps sustain interest and encourages new clients to consider FP. |
| Discussion/Conclusion | The Secure Salon Project demonstrates that non-traditional community settings , in this case, hair salons, can serve as effective and safe spaces for advancing sexual and reproductive health goals in culturally conservative contexts. It is anticipated that this initiative, if scaled up to different regions, will increase access to quality FP counselling and services. |
| Presenters and affiliations | Esinam Gle Total Family Health Organisation Kenneth Ankomah-Mensah Total Family Health Organisation Salamatu Abdulai Total Family Health Organisation Dr. Kamil Fuseini (PhD) Total Family Health Organisation Esinam Gle Total Family Health Organisation Bright Addo Total Family Health Organisation Kenneth Samuel Ankomah-Mensah Total Family Health Organisation |
