Objectives:

• The overarching and long-term goal for DASH is to boost adolescent health in SAA through rigorous population-based intervention and policy research. Alongside our research agenda, DASH will actively invest in activities that assure the sustainability and societal impact of our work. The focus of our TUM work lies on the methodological aspects of evaluating the impact of interventions and policies and to assess the transportability of results to other populations and settings.

Background:

• Annually, 1.2 million adolescents die prematurely due to preventable or treatable causes, while many more suffer from poor health and disability. A high share of the global mortality and morbidity burden in adolescence occurs in sub-Saharan Africa. Adolescence is a critical stage of life when important physical, cognitive and social developments take place, and critical behaviors related to diet, exercise, alcohol and tobacco use, violence and sexual behavior are developed. These developments and behaviors determine and shape behaviors well into adulthood and, with it, long-term health outcomes. Improving adolescent health, therefore, is paramount for creating healthy societies.

Methods:

• A key component of the project comprises the utilization and extension of existing Health and Demographic Surveillance Systems (HDSS) in partner countries to efficiently collect longitudinal health data on adolescents. Within these data collection activities, we will also embed intervention research, which will comprise the design of novel adolescent health interventions, through innovative participatory design methods, as well as the evaluation of these interventions, through experimental, quasi-experimental and mixed-methods approaches.