Project Udaan

Strategising a New Narrative for SRH

Quicksand was brought onto Project Udaan as an HCD expert to ensure that the re-design of public health interventions targeting adolescents centred the voices and concerns of adolescents, and involved them in the design and development of these solutions.  We closely collaborated with the YP Foundation and Manjari Foundation. The program focused on enhancing touchpoints such as Ujala Centres, the 104/108 helpline that GoR (Government of Rajasthan) had set up, and outreach sessions within community spaces.

The project had three main objectives:

• Improved SRH knowledge, attitudes, and practices among unmarried adolescents to reduce risky behaviours.
• Enhanced access to and satisfaction with adolescent SRH (ASRH) services.
• Development of validated models for addressing SRH needs, potentially integrating them into RKSK’s state strategy.

The pilot was implemented in Dholpur, a district characterised by high early marriage prevalence and poor SRH indicators. The 2010-11 Annual Health Survey indicated high teenage pregnancies and low contraceptive use, highlighting a substantial unmet need for family planning.

Research revealed adolescents have limited safe spaces to express themselves, with schools being the few credible environments available to them. Additionally, a lack of accurate SRH information sources hindered knowledge and awareness. Community members acknowledged the importance of discussing SRH topics, but often lacked skills to do so effectively.

Key questions addressed included:

• How can we leverage community touchpoints and influencers, like schools and peers, to enhance SRH information access?
• How can we maximise adolescent interaction with adolescent-friendly services through improved training and delivery of care services through public health facilities and counsellors?
• How can we create a narrative for SRH conversations that builds confidence in adolescents to demand services?

Moving Research into Action Through Design Facilitation

Design facilitation and research translation were critical to the project's momentum, turning research into potentially impactful solutions for adolescent health that could be further developed through a process of prototyping and co-design . This phase of Project Udaan project built on priorly conducted formative research that had identified key insights amongst the target group of adolescents, and took the form of workshops and state-level convenings to build consensus among stakeholders.

Quicksand conducted multi-day co-design workshops to translate gathered research into actionable program ideas, to leverage existing knowledge in the sector, particularly in adolescent sexual and reproductive health, and to build upon it. The workshop included youth-focused organisations like the YP Foundation, and IPE Global, and 30 other participants, including implementation NGOs, funders like Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), and organisations like the Clinton Health Access Initiative. The aim was to bring together stakeholders to present and discuss the research, share insights, and collaboratively ideate potential interventions.

We brought in a theatre group that used the methodology called the 'theatre of the oppressed' to facilitate engagement and brainstorming amongst participants. In addition ideation tools like concept cards and rapid prototyping were utilised to generate a corpus of actionable ideas. These ideas then went on to provide a tangible direction for the project, enabling stakeholders to choose and refine interventions. At the end of the workshop, the participants had a collection of seven to eight robust ideas to present to the state mission director, showcasing potential interventions and seeking alignment for implementation. This also paved the way for the next 6 months of effort to further design and develop these ideas and bring them to a point that they could be rolled out in one district in Rajasthan.

A 360-degree Approach Combining Diverse Interventions

The program utilised a variety of government and private sector touchpoints, employing a cohesive brand language to ensure adolescents had access to quality SRH services. There were five main interventions:

Ujala Centre Enhancements: Revamping Ujala Centres to create inviting atmospheres that emphasise quality counselling. Improvements featured clear signage, engaging waiting areas with informative materials, interactive tools for counsellors and capacity-building sessions that equipped counsellors with essential skills and resources.

Ujala Helpline Improvements: Upgrading the phone counselling experience included creating a knowledge repository with text and audio resources and specialized training programs for counsellors on crisis management and SRH topics.

In-School Programs: A comprehensive curriculum reinforced SRH awareness among students in grades 9 to 12, featuring monthly activities and sessions on consent, contraception, and STIs, establishing schools as credible information sources.

Community Outreach via Ujala Saathis: Ujala Saathis, young adults trained to lead community activities, fostered co-gendered spaces for open discussions on SRH. Sports sessions and film screenings created safe environments for engagement, addressing gender equality and consent through interactive formats.

Unified Ujala Brand Strategy: The branding for Ujala was reimagined to resonate with adolescents, integrating SRH information into their lives. The campaign "Khulke Poocho, Khulke Jaano", a Hindi phrase which translates as “ask and learn openly and freely”, sought to normalise discussions around sensitive topics, applied consistently across touchpoints like Ujala Centres and community outreach initiatives.

These efforts collectively aimed to create a supportive environment for adolescents to access SRH services while addressing cultural sensitivities and promoting open dialogue.

Creating Relatable Brand Ambassadors

The ‘Khulke Poocho, Khulke Jaano’ campaign was well received,  creating a unified identity focused on being accessible and engaging for adolescents.

Initially, comics and short stories explored tones and topics reflecting adolescents' everyday concerns and preferred formats. Various formats included narratives with strong role models, casual Q&As between siblings, and humorous content. However, developing relatable brand ambassadors posed a challenge. Literal examples were compelling but hard to agree on, while narrative-based characters required extensive marketing. Testing ranged from celebrity role models to fictional characters in comics. Ultimately, the team chose relatable, everyday adolescents as the most scalable solution for a state-wide campaign.

To summarise, the strategy emphasised authentic local figures over national celebrities to resonate deeply with the target audience. Interactive materials facilitated discussions about sensitive topics, reinforcing the normalisation of SRH conversations within communities. The campaign aimed to empower adolescents to confidently seek SRH services.

Implementation and further adaptation

The project faced challenges integrating interventions within the existing public health framework, particularly as they pertained to state funding and staffing for the helpline. Despite these hurdles, the campaign succeeded and all interventions were implemented in Rajasthan at the pilot scale. Guidelines from Project Udaan were presented to the national RKSK mission, indicating that while the project was state-focused in Rajasthan, its strategies were also shared at the national level. Subsequently, there was a request from the Clinton Foundation to adapt the program for the state of Madhya Pradesh, for another program under the RKSK mission that they were implementing. Overall, Project Udaan underscored the importance of designing health interventions that resonate with adolescents, emphasising the need to adopt channels, actors and messages that are relatable and easily accessed by them.