Interventions for improving the health and socioeconomic well-being of young parents in Africa: a systematic review protocol

Abstract

IntroductionEarly childbearing is highly prevalent in Africa. Despite the harmful consequences of early childbearing on young people, there is limited documentation of interventions that aim to improve the health and socioeconomic well-being of young parents on the continent. In this systematic review, we will map and provide a critical synthesis of interventions that aim to improve the health and socioeconomic well-being of young parents in Africa to inform future policy and programmatic decision-making.Methods and analysisThe systematic review will adhere to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. We will conduct an electronic search of peer-reviewed articles published in six databases: PubMed, Science Direct, AJOL, JSTOR, ERIC and Google Scholar. We will also search for grey literature through Google search and organisations’ websites to broaden the number of interventions retrieved. Articles will be included if (1) the study participants are young mothers and fathers aged 10–24 years, (2) the article reports on interventions targeting young mothers and fathers in Africa or individual countries in Africa, (3) the article is published in English or French, (4) the article reports on health and socioeconomic well-being outcomes and (5) the article was published between 1 January 2000 and 31 December 2023. We will extract relevant information from articles that meet the inclusion criteria and synthesise data using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Two reviewers will independently screen articles for inclusion, extract data from included articles and assess the methodological quality of studies.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval is not required for the systematic review since we are synthesising publicly available publications. Findings from this systematic review will be published in a peer-reviewed journal and further disseminated in conferences and convenings focusing on the health and socioeconomic well-being of young parents.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42023464828.