PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Burke, Jessica G.
AU  - Baumann, Sara
AU  - Jones, Jennifer
AU  - Joshi, Niva
AU  - Lhaki, Pema
TI  - Empowerment Among Adolescent Girls in Nepal: A Concept Mapping Exploratory Study
AID  - 10.9745/GHSP-D-23-00010
DP  - 2024 Jun 27
TA  - Global Health: Science and Practice
PG  - e2300010
VI  - 12
IP  - 3
4099  - http://www.ghspjournal.org/content/12/3/e2300010.short
4100  - http://www.ghspjournal.org/content/12/3/e2300010.full
SO  - GLOB HEALTH SCI PRACT2024 Jun 27; 12
AB  - Key FindingsIn an effort to develop a contextually specific empowerment measurement tool for adolescents in Nepal, 4 stakeholder groups at the national, community, and village levels were engaged in concept mapping activities to provide insights into the components of empowerment.Empowerment among adolescent girls in Nepal is influenced by a wide range of factors, including components of education and knowledge, decision-making, social supports and skills, and physical infrastructure.Items rated the most important were “sex education” for adolescents, “hygiene” for mothers, “education” for community-level staff, and “treat and be treated equally” for national-level experts, illustrating the distinct interpretations of empowerment and highlighting the need for incorporating a wide range of voices to define empowerment comprehensively.Key ImplicationThe concept of empowerment should be explored and conceptualized in the specific context in which it is being used to help develop more effective approaches to measuring the impact of empowerment interventions.Background:The concept of empowerment is challenging to operationalize and measure; it is multidimensional, the outcomes are not always directly observable, and meanings of empowerment are highly contextual and socially and culturally situated. This study aimed to explore perspectives of empowerment among adolescent girls in Nepal to identify statements for inclusion in a context-specific empowerment measure.Methods:We used a participatory and mixed method research method called concept mapping in 3 districts in Nepal. Three sequential concept mapping sessions were used to solicit, organize, and process how participants responded to the prompt: “The life of an adolescent girl improves when she has/can…” The Concept Systems Global software was used to manage and analyze the concept mapping brainstorming, sorting, and rating data using established tools, such as multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis.Results:Concept mapping was conducted with 113 participants, including national experts, program staff, adolescents, and their mothers. They identified 105 items that fall into a 4-cluster solution: education and knowledge, decision-making, supports and skills, and physical infrastructure. Rating data uncovered there was some overlap between the top 10 most important items between the national-level experts and other stakeholder groups; however, several components associated with empowerment differed by stakeholder group in terms of importance.Conclusion:This research represents a critical step in exploring definitions of empowerment among adolescent girls in the Nepal context and with expert input. These results led to the development of a contextually specific definition of empowerment. Researchers and practitioners interested in developing context-specific understandings of complex topics that incorporate community voices and perspectives could use a similar concept mapping approach in other countries to explore various topics with diverse populations.