Endline Study Kenya

Background and Context

Established in 2014, Tiko is a non-profit organisation that leverages technology and behavioural insights to design, implement, and scale access to sexual reproductive health (SRH) services among adolescents and young people (AYP) aged 15-24 years. Using the Tiko platform Tiko connects low-income adolescents and young people with non-judgmental, quality-assured SRH services that meet their specific needs. We envision a world where all AYP have the power to choose where, when, and how they meet their SRH, HIV and mental health needs. Further Tiko, connects partners and actors across demand and supply to give young people access to quality products and services, thereby enabling young people to: postpone or prevent unplanned pregnancies, know their HIV status, use Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) to reduce the risk of HIV acquisition, adhere to Antiretroviral Therapy (ART), screen for and obtain support to address mental health challenges .

Using its Tiko platform, Tiko uses an ecosystem implementation approach to enable AYP to access sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services at no cost to them. The Tiko platform supports users through complex healthcare journeys by utilising community mobilizers and CSO support, reminders, rewards, follow-up calls to motivate adherence, and tracking users to support their sustained use of health services.

Tiko in Kenya received funding from the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) to implement these interventions for adolescents and young people aged 15-24 years, providing access to mental health (MH) services and HIV-related services, including testing, PrEP, and ART, in Mombasa. This program focuses on diverse young people, particularly young people living with HIV, and key populations. The program aimed at addressing key barriers these groups face in accessing HIV prevention and treatment services and MH services within the private and public facilities. We conducted a baseline study in 2023 to gather baseline level estimates against the key programme outcomes. We now seek services of an evaluator to conduct the endline evaluation comprising independent mixed-methods approaches. The aim is to evaluate the impact of the programme on users’ knowledge, awareness, attitudes, and behaviour and on the impact of the programme on facilities’ ability to provide youth-centric facilities, reach more AYP with FP, HIV and MH services and on the impact on facility providers’ knowledge and attitudes towards HIV and MH programming for AYP.

The specific objectives of the endline study are:

• To assess the change in awareness of the availability of mental health and HIV support structures within health facilities among Adolescents and Young People (AYP) aged 15-24 years
• To document changes in AYP (15-24 years)’s levels of depression
• To assess AYP (15-24 years)’s changes in knowledge and attitudes around MH and HIV (HIV testing, PrEP and ART)
• To establish the progress in the access to and uptake of HIV and mental health services among AYP (15-24 years)
• To assess changes in AYP’s perceptions regarding issues of accessibility of service providers, cultural acceptability, availability and appropriateness (youth-friendly, gender sensitive, inclusive, and responsiveness)
• To document the change in knowledge and perceptions around HIV and mental health among health service providers in Mombasa County
• To assess the perceptions of health providers regarding the barriers AYP face in the uptake of HIV and MH services by AYP and how these barriers have been addressed by the programme

Study methodology

Tiko expects to apply the same methodological approaches used in the baseline study, that is, mixed-methods approach based on a quasi-experimental design in Mombasa (the treatment county) and Kwale (the control county). We will apply these methods:

1. A quantitative survey conducted through client exit interviews with Adolescents and Young People (AYP) aged 15-24, who accessed FP, HIV, mental health (MH), and family planning (FP) services at health facilities in Mombasa and in comparable facilities in Kwale
2. Analysis of service data from facilities (sourced from DHIS2 and Tiko platform) in the intervention and those in the control counties
3. A facility assessment survey to track commodity stocking, facility
4. Qualitative data collected from AYP using focus group discussions
5. Qualitative data collected from health providers and county officials using key informant interviews

Scope of work

The primary purpose of the work is to design and conduct an endline study to be implemented between in July – Aug 2024 in Mombasa and Kwale counties. The successful bidder is responsible for ensuring timely submission of the following deliverables:

1. Activity Protocol review and approval, Time Frame May 2024 , Deliverable Submitted by Tiko.
2. Activity Draft inception report, field work plan and quality control plan, Time Frame June 2024, Deliverable – Inception report, Research/Evaluation team, Presentation of the inception report.
3. Activity Scripting of tools, Time Frame June 2024, Deliverable , Scripted questionnaire.
4. Activity Training, pilot and data collection, Time Frame July 2024, Deliverable, Field implementation report
5. Activity Cleaned final dataset(s) containing all data collected for the endline, including survey responses and KII/FGD transcriptions & codebook, Time Frame August 2024, Deliverable, Submit final, cleaned data sets in either Stata/SPSS or NVivo or other qualitative package (including excel)

We are looking for a bidder with the following skills and qualifications:

• Demonstrable expertise in research and/or evaluations among Adolescents and Young People (AYP) and on SRH, HIV (HIV testing, PrEP, ART) and mental health in Kenya
• Demonstrable expertise in public health policy and service delivery in Kenya
• A track record of designing, implementing and reporting on programme research/evaluations in Kenya including but not limited to:
• Expertise in conducting impact evaluation using statistical approaches such as propensity score matching, interrupted time series, regression discontinuity, etc
• Experience in qualitative approaches for impact assessment such as outcome harvesting and contribution analysis
• Experience in data collection and analysis using participatory methodologies
• The team leader and members should have the following skills and expertise:
• A postgraduate degree in a research-oriented social science or a related discipline with extensive knowledge of and experience in leading (designing and undertaking) large scale quantitative and qualitative research
• A team leader/team member with global standing in the public health space, specifically in AYP SRH, experience in digital health technologies is an added advantage
• A history of publication on AYP SRH, HIV and mental health in peer-refereed, high impact journals, preferably in high impact journals
• Track record of managing and coordinating evaluation/research exercises, and delivering agreed outputs on-time and on-budget
• Excellent and demonstrated understanding of ethical issues in research, including in child protection and safeguarding of research participants
• Ability to respond to comments and questions in a timely, appropriate manner
• Capacity to use mobile data collection for data collection, and analysis of survey results
• Excellent verbal and written communication in English and Kiswahili required

Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be assessed against the following criteria:

Team expertise, experience, and composition:

• Expertise and experience in undertaking similar research activities in Kenya

Weight: 40

Strength of the technical proposal:

• Overall strength of proposed methodology, including the to address the specific tasks outlined above within the anticipated timelines

Weight: 40

Budget:

• Value for money
• The estimated budget guide for this work is $27,000 and we will consider strongly competitive proposals to deliver the engagement within this limit

Weight: 20

How to apply

Firms and individuals are invited to submit proposals for this engagement. Proposals should include the contents below and not exceed a maximum length of 10 pages, excluding annexures (budget and summary profiles of proposed personnel).

• Cover Page: Summary with basic information such as names, address, contact information, proposed budget, etc.
• Capacity Statement: A brief capacity statement as to why your firm and the team you are proposing is well positioned to undertake the engagement
• Qualification to the Scope of Work: Any qualifications that you may have regarding the scope of work
• Proposed Approach: Your proposed approach to delivering on the scope of work requirements
• Work Plan:proposed work plan with tasks, responsible person/s and timeline
• Budget: Total budget envelope required to deliver the work (in Dollars), and line-item breakdown of direct costs and overheads
• References of similar engagements undertaken by the firm in the last 5 years

The submission must be clear, concise, and complete. Applicants should submit only such information as is necessary to respond effectively to this request for proposals. Unless specifically requested, extraneous presentation materials are neither necessary nor desired.

Applications/submissions are requested to submit their tender/application documents (technical & financial) proposals to Tiko via mail procurement@triggerise.org. by the end of day 03 June 2023 with “EJAF Endline” in the subject line.