Text Size

Economic Empowerment Program Suubi-Maka

This study has been completed.
Sponsor:
Collaborator:
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Information provided by (Responsible Party):
Fred Ssewamala, PhD, Columbia University
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
NCT01180114
First received: July 14, 2010
Last updated: November 22, 2012
Last verified: November 2012
History of Changes
  Purpose

The overall goal of SUUBI-MAKA is to further develop and preliminarily examine a family economic empowerment intervention that creates economic opportunities (specifically Children Development Accounts) for families in Uganda who are caring for children orphaned due to the AIDS pandemic, and to lay groundwork for a bigger study with practice and policy implications for Sub-Saharan Africa.


Condition Intervention
Poverty
 Behavioral: Suubi-Maka ('Hope for Families')
Other: Usual Care

Study Type: Interventional
Study Design: Allocation: Randomized
Endpoint Classification: Efficacy Study
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Double Blind (Subject, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
Official Title: SUUBI MAKA ("Hope for Families"): A Family-Based Economic Empowerment Model for Orphaned Children in Uganda

Resource links provided by NLM:

U.S. FDA Resources

Further study details as provided by Columbia University:

Primary Outcome Measures:
  • Savings and asset-accumulation [ Time Frame: 12-month post-intervention ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
    Formal and informal savings, wealth/assets (e.g. livestock, type of housing), and attitudes toward saving

  • Educational outcomes [ Time Frame: 12-month post-intervention ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
    School enrollment, School attendance, School grades, Educational plans and aspirations

  • Sexual risk taking [ Time Frame: 12-month post-intervention ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
    Sexual risk taking behavior (onset of sexual intercourse, unprotected sexual intercourse), Intentions to engage in sexual risk behaviors, HIV knowledge

  • Savings and asset-accumulation [ Time Frame: 24-month post-intervention ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
    Formal and informal savings, wealth/assets (e.g. livestock, type of housing), and attitudes toward saving

  • Educational outcomes [ Time Frame: 24-month post-intervention ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
    School enrollment, School attendance, School grades, Educational plans and aspirations

  • Sexual risk taking [ Time Frame: 24-month post-intervention ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
    Sexual risk taking behavior (onset of sexual intercourse, unprotected sexual intercourse), Intentions to engage in sexual risk behaviors, HIV knowledge


Secondary Outcome Measures:
  • Mental health [ Time Frame: 12-month post-intervention ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
    Self-esteem, depression, hopelessness, helplessness

  • Social and family support [ Time Frame: 12-month post-intervention ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
    Child-caregiver relationship, family cohesion, family communication, family support

  • Mental health [ Time Frame: 24-month post-intervention ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
    Self-esteem, depression, hopelessness, and helplessness scales

  • Social and family support [ Time Frame: 24-month post-intervention ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
    Child-caregiver relationship, family cohesion, family communication, family support


Enrollment: 300
Study Start Date: August 2008
Study Completion Date: July 2012
Primary Completion Date: July 2012 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
Arms Assigned Interventions
Experimental: SUUBI-MAKA
Involves creating and broadening asset ownership opportunities and life options for children (ages 12 to 15 years) orphaned due to AIDS in Uganda.
 Behavioral: Suubi-Maka ('Hope for Families')
Each child in the SUUBI-MAKA condition receive the usual care plus asset focused services, specifically: a matched Child Development Account (CDA); twelve 1-2 hour training sessions on career planning, setting short-term and long-term career goals, and how to save money; and monthly mentorship program with young adult peers (undergraduate students) on life options and how to avoid risk behaviors. In addition, participants receive a 2:1 match for their deposits into the account. Further, participants and their adult caregivers receive specific training on microenterprise development and specifically on how to start an income-generating project using up to 50% of the matched savings. The intervention is delivered over a period of 24 months.
Other Name: Children's savings account
Usual Care
No intervention for asset ownership, development of future planning skills, enhancement of mental health and reduction of risk taking behaviors for children orphaned due to AIDS in Uganda.
 Other: Usual Care
Each child in the control condition receives the usual services for orphaned children (counseling, school lunches, and textbooks).
Other Name: Usual services

Detailed Description:

The study has two specific aims (1) To conduct formative work in order to understand children and families´ ability and interest in participating in a family-level economic empowerment intervention focused on savings and family income generation, and their response to this family-focused economic empowerment approach alongside additional intervention components, including savings for youth education and adult mentorship. (2) Based on formative data (Aim #1), to adapt the intervention and examine issues related to feasibility and preliminary outcome on a small scale in order to prepare for a larger study.

The intervention, SUUBI-MAKA, uses a novel approach by focusing on economic empowerment of families caring for children orphaned due to AIDS. The intervention has three key components (1) it promotes family-level income generating projects (micro-enterprises) which we believe will enhance economic stability, reduce poverty, and enhance protective family processes for youth orphaned by AIDS. (2) It promotes monetary savings for educational opportunities for AIDS-orphaned children. (3) It provides an adult mentor to children. The intervention will be evaluated via a two-group randomized trial. The two groups are SUUBI-MAKA or Usual care for orphaned children. The participating children will be nested within 20 primary schools that will be randomly assigned such that all children from a particular school receive the same intervention.

  Eligibility

Ages Eligible for Study:   11 Years to 16 Years
Genders Eligible for Study:   Both
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:   No
Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. An AIDS-orphaned child, defined as a child who has lost one or both parents to AIDS;
  2. Enrolled in the last two years of primary school (even though possibly not attending regularly);
  3. Between the ages of 11 to 16 years;
  4. Living within a family.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Any youth below 11 years or above 16 years at the time of enrollment in the study;
  2. Any youth not enrolled in the final two years of primary school;
  3. Any youth who does not self-identify as an AIDS-orphan;
  4. Any youth not being raised primarily within a family context at the start of the study.
  Contacts and Locations
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01180114

Locations
Uganda
St. Joseph's Matale Parish
Rakai, Uganda
Sponsors and Collaborators
Columbia University
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Investigators
Principal Investigator: Fred M Ssewamala, PhD Columbia University
  More Information

No publications provided by Columbia University

Additional publications automatically indexed to this study by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number):

Responsible Party: Fred Ssewamala, PhD, Associate Professor of Social Work, Columbia University
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01180114     History of Changes
Other Study ID Numbers: AAAD2525, R34MH081763-02
Study First Received: July 14, 2010
Last Updated: November 22, 2012
Health Authority: United States: Institutional Review Board
Uganda: National Council for Science and Technology

Keywords provided by Columbia University:
economic empowerment model,
orphaned children and youth,
Uganda,
sub-Saharan Africa

ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on June 18, 2013