Community Empathways

How might we foster greater empathy between adults and young people?

Countries: West Africa Breakthrough ACTION (Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Niger, and Togo)

Health Areas: Family Planning/Reproductive Health, Youth

Context and Insights

Social norms in West Africa discourage any discussion of sexual or intimate relationships, sexual and reproductive health (SRH), or contraception, particularly between adults and young people. Young people turn to social media or friends for guidance. Personal, heart-to-heart conversations about difficult family planning (FP) or SRH topics can establish empathy and respect between adults and young people, but initiating these dialogues can be challenging. Increased empathy among adults for the FP/SRH challenges young people experience can expand community support, so youth are able to make informed SRH decisions that are right for them.

The Solution

The Empathways cards provide a practical, semi-structured way to facilitate difficult conversations that (1) youth would otherwise have a hard time starting with an adult in their community and (2) an adult would have a hard time having in an unbiased, nonjudgemental way. The cards present a sequence of discussion prompts, bringing users through building awareness and moving toward empathy and then taking action. This interaction can create lasting impressions for both youth and adults and can ultimately increase adult support for young people seeking FP/SRH information and services.

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“I got a lot of information from [Empathways] … I liked the discussions with the other parents and young people, because it’s a kind of dialogue you don’t often see.” — 45-year-old woman, Côte d’Ivoire

“As a father, it’s only now that I’ve understood the real need to talk about reproductive health with children. We’ve been a bit distant from the children because of our occupations, and this discussion has enabled me to question myself. If I’d discussed sexuality with my daughter, she wouldn’t be pregnant today at 19 without being married. I ask for support for these types of activities to improve parent-child communication in our context.” — 53-year-old man, Togo

The Innovation

The card-based activity encourages adults and youth living side-by-side in the same communities or homes to see one another in a new light—as real people, living real lives—and reflect on their unique needs and challenges. The cards help adults remember what being young was like and having questions about SRH—often with nowhere to turn for reliable information—and puts them in a position to do better, or differently, for the young people in their lives.

The Evidence

Young people and adults who used the tool appreciated that the cards made conversations about sensitive topics easier. Interviews with adult community members showed a positive association with using the tool and approving of youth FP use, feeling confident they could help a young person access an FP method, and having acted to increase youth access to these services.

Scale-Up & Adapt

At the request of adult Empathways users in West Africa, the project adapted and streamlined community Empathways cards to an offline digital format for in-home use in family settings between young people and their parents/guardians. WABA also adapted the community Empathways cards from an earlier version designed for health care providers. This is one of many adaptations which programs are implementing across health areas (such as for HIV) and across interpersonal communication instances, like Ministries of Health incorporating the cards into provider training curricula.

Who can I speak with about this solution?

Erin Portillo, Senior Program Officer

Hilaire Tokplo, Togo Country Manager

Juliana Rojas, Business Designer, ThinkPlace

Other resources

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This website is made possible by the support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The Breakthrough awards are supported by USAID’s Office of Population and Reproductive Health, Bureau for Global Health, under Cooperative Agreements: #AID-OAA-A-17-00017 and #AID-OAA-A-17-00018. Breakthrough ACTION is based at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s Center for Communication Programs. Breakthrough RESEARCH is based at Population Council. The contents of this website are the sole responsibility of Breakthrough ACTION and Breakthrough RESEARCH. The information provided on this website is not official U.S. Government information and does not necessarily represent the views or positions of USAID, the United States Government, Johns Hopkins University, or Population Council.