ReviewGlobal health, science and practice2020
Close to Home: Evidence on the Impact of Community-Based Girl Groups.
Review in Global health, science and practice, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- Scoping review of social norms interventions to reduce violence and improve SRHR outcomes among adolescents and young people in sub-Saharan Africa.Frontiers in reproductive health · 2025Pooled it
- Some Interventions to Shift Meta-Norms Are Effective for Changing Behaviors in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Rapid Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Pooled it
- Goals for girls: a cluster-randomized trial to investigate a school-based sexual health programme amongst female learners in South Africa.Health education research · 2023Trial
- Uptake and acceptability of health services for adolescent girls and young women provided through Safe Spaces in South Africa.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Adolescent Girls' Agency in an Integrated Sexual and Reproductive Health and Economic Empowerment Intervention Pilot.Journal of adolescence · 2025Article
- Article
- Gender-transformative HIV and SRHR programme approaches for adolescents and young people: a realist review to inform policy and programmes.BMJ global health · 2024Review
- Descriptive Representation and Reproductive Health Outcomes: The Role of Women Candidates in Reducing Teen Birth Rates.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Realising agency: insights from participatory research with learners in a South African sexual and reproductive health programme.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Findings from a mixed-methods evaluation of a multi-level adolescent and youth reproductive and maternal health intervention in Karnali Province, Nepal.BMC women's health · 2023Article
- Safe spaces for beneficiaries of a combination HIV prevention intervention for adolescent girls and young women in South Africa: access, feasibility, and acceptability.BMC public health · 2022Article
- Policies and interventions to remove gender-related barriers to girls' school participation and learning in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review of the evidence.Campbell systematic reviews · 2022Review
- Article
- Gender inequities in treatment-seeking for sexual and reproductive health amongst adolescents: Findings from a cross-sectional survey in India.SSM - population health · 2021Article
- Inclusive HIV Prevention in South Africa: Reaching Foreign Migrant Adolescent Girls.Frontiers in reproductive health · 2021Article
- What shapes gender attitudes among adolescent girls and boys? Evidence from the UDAYA Longitudinal Study in India.PloS one · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeCommunity-based programming to promote gender equity, often delivered through community-based girl groups (CBGGs, sometimes called "safe spaces"), is increasing. However, evidence is weak on how CBGGs are implemented and their effect on adolescent girls' health and well-being. We conducted a comprehensive literature review to identify relevant CBGG programs.
methodsThe review included programs with impact evaluations that used experimental or quasi-experimental design, data from 2 time points, control/comparison groups, and quantitative program effects and
resultsWe analyzed evaluations of 30 programs (14 randomized controlled trials, 16 quasi-experimental). Although program designs varied, most programs targeted unmarried girls aged 13 to 18 years who were both in school and not in school, and who met weekly in groups of 15 to 25 girls. Nearly all programs used multisectoral approaches focusing on life skills and often economic and financial content, such as financial literacy and microsavings. Complementary activities with community members, boys, and health services were common. Across programs, evaluations reported statistically significant effects (
conclusionsCBGG program evaluations found positive effects on girl-level outcomes that are independent of external factors, like gender norm attitudes, and suboptimal performance on health behavior and health status, which rely on other people and systems. This delivery model has promise for building girls' assets. Complementary actions to engage girls' social environments and structures are needed to change behaviors and health status.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.