Bandebereho Father Groups Randomized Control Trial in Rwanda

Bandebereho Father Groups: a Randomized Control Trial to Assess the Impact of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Group Education for New and Expecting Fathers

This study seeks to assess the impact of the MenCare+/Bandebereho fathers'/couples' group education intervention on men's attitudes towards, and participation in, sexual and reproductive health, maternal, newborn and child health, and equitable and non-violent relationships with their children and partners.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Contraception; Violence; Gender Relations; Prenatal Care; Partner Communication
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: MenCare+/Bandebereho fathers'/couples' group education

Detailed Description

This study seeks to assess the impact of the MenCare+/Bandebereho fathers'/couples' group education intervention on men's attitudes towards, and participation in, sexual and reproductive health, maternal, newborn and child health, and equitable and non-violent relationships with their children and partners. The MenCare+/ Bandebereho program is a multi-component comprehensive intervention being implemented by the Rwanda Men's Resource Center (RWAMREC) and Promundo-US, in collaboration with the Rwanda Ministry of Health and local authorities in Karongi, Musanze, Nyaruguru and Rwamagana districts. The proposed study will evaluate one component of the program, a 15-session group education intervention targeting young fathers and mothers. The impact of the fathers' group education will be assessed through a randomized control trial design with an intervention arm of men and women participating in the father groups and a control arm of men and women who do not participate in the intervention. The study will collect quantitative and qualitative data over a period of approximately three years.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 2400
• Phase: Not Applicable

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 21 years to 35 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Men aged 21-35 years
• Living with a partner
• Expectant (or soon to be) father or father of young children under-5
• Living in an area with a group facilitator

Exclusion Criteria:

- Participated in previous cycles of the same intervention

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intervention; See intervention description	Behavioral: MenCare+/Bandebereho fathers'/couples' group education; MenCare+/Bandebereho is a 3 year project to engage men in maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) and in sexual and reproductive health in Rwanda. A core component of the project is fathers'/couples' group education. The target participants are first-time parents or parents of young children living in 16 rural and semi-urban sectors selected by the implementing partner in collaboration with local authorities. The MenCare+/Bandebereho fathers'/couples' group education engages men in 15 weekly sessions of group discussion, critical reflection and interactive activities led by a trained facilitator using a curriculum developed by RWAMREC and Promundo and approved by the Rwandan Ministry of Health, adapted from the Program P Manual. Men's partners participate in 6-8 sessions. The sessions focus on men's role in MNCH, family planning, sharing household responsibilities, intimate partner violence, conflict resolution, family budgeting, and gender equality.; Other Names: Program P
No Intervention: Control; Participants randomized into the control arm are surveyed at the same time points as intervention participants, but do not receive any intervention.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Gender division of caregiving/domestic tasks (from questionnaire: a) composite capturing frequency of the respondent doing household or caregiving tasks; b) composite capturing how tasks are shared between partners).	4 months post intervention
Men's participation in family planning and maternal, newborn and child health (from questionnaire: a) men's presence at antenatal care visits; b) women's reports of receiving partner support during pregnancy; c) use of family planning).	4 months post intervention
Gender-related attitudes (from questionnaire: a continuous scale variable, adapted from the validated Gender Equitable Men (GEM) scale).	4 months post intervention
Women's experiences of intimate partner violence (from: questionnaire: a composite capturing exposure to a standard set of violent acts by a partner).	4 months post intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Use of violence/harsh punishment against children (from questionnaire: a composite capturing respondents' use of various harsh discipline acts in the past month, adapted from the UNICEF MICS study).	4 months post intervention
Relationship quality measured (from questionnaire: a) frequency of quarreling and b) quality scale adapted from the Decision Making in Low-Income Couples).	4 months post intervention
Couple communication (from questionnaire: a composite capturing frequency of communication across multiple topics).	4 months post intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Promundo, United States
• Collaborators: Rwanda Men's Resource Center (Rwamrec)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Kate E Doyle, MA, Promundo-US; Principal Investigator: Ruti G Levtov, PhD, Promundo-US; Principal Investigator: Gary Barker, PhD, Promundo-US; Principal Investigator: Shamsi Kazimbaya, MA, formerly at Rwanda Men's Resource Center, now at Jhpiego

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Levtov RG, Doyle K, Bingenheimer JB, Lahiri S, Kazimbaya S, Karamage E, Sayinzoga F, Mutoni M, Rubayita CH, Barker G. Improved Relationship Quality, Equitable Gender Attitudes, and Reduced Alcohol Abuse as Key Mechanisms to Reduce Intimate Partner Violence in the Bandebereho Couples' Randomized Trial in Rwanda. Prev Sci. 2022 Nov;23(8):1495-1506. doi: 10.1007/s11121-022-01445-6. Epub 2022 Oct 11.
• Doyle K, Levtov RG, Barker G, Bastian GG, Bingenheimer JB, Kazimbaya S, Nzabonimpa A, Pulerwitz J, Sayinzoga F, Sharma V, Shattuck D. Gender-transformative Bandebereho couples' intervention to promote male engagement in reproductive and maternal health and violence prevention in Rwanda: Findings from a randomized controlled trial. PLoS One. 2018 Apr 4;13(4):e0192756. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0192756. eCollection 2018.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 1, 2015
• Primary Completion (Actual): January 1, 2017
• Study Completion (Actual): January 1, 2017

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: February 19, 2016
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 23, 2016
• First Posted (Estimate): February 29, 2016

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 4, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 3, 2017
• Last Verified: April 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: gender, caregiving, MNCH, violence, sexual and reproductive health, parenting
• Other Study ID Numbers: 137D

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No