TY - JOUR T1 - Close to Home: Evidence on the Impact of Community-Based Girl Groups JF - Global Health: Science and Practice JO - GLOB HEALTH SCI PRACT SP - 300 LP - 324 DO - 10.9745/GHSP-D-20-00015 VL - 8 IS - 2 AU - Miriam Temin AU - Craig J. Heck Y1 - 2020/06/30 UR - http://www.ghspjournal.org/content/8/2/300.abstract N2 - Key FindingsEvaluations of community-based girl groups (CBGGs) programs—sometimes called safe spaces—reported positive effects on girl-level outcomes that are independent of external factors and suboptimal performance on health behavior and health status.The limited evidence available shows that CBGGs have the potential to contribute to adolescent girls’ empowerment; complementary activities are needed to mitigate risk.Key ImplicationsProgram implementers should consider the role of female mentor-led girl groups in improving adolescent girls’ attitudes, beliefs, knowledge, and awareness on health and gender.Policy makers and funders should recognize that to change behaviors and sustainably reduce risk, CBGGs should be combined with action to engage girls’ social environments and structures.Researchers should conduct rigorous implementation science and impact evaluation studies of CBGGs to learn more about effective practices and the likely impact of CBGGs for vulnerable subpopulations of adolescent girls.Purpose:Community-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.Methods:The 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 P values.Results:We 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 (P<.05) the majority (>50%) of times they measured outcomes related to gender and health attitudes and knowledge, education, psychosocial well-being, and economic and financial outcomes. Measures of outcomes related to girls’ health behaviors and health status had majority null findings.Conclusions:CBGG 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. ER -