Learn about our initiative
Work on mental health promotion for pregnant or parenting adolescents remains severely neglected. Cafe Tabasamu seeks to be a safe space for all adolescents dealing with similar experiences.
Our Workshops
Café Tabasamu is an in-person simulation of a cafe in which we conducted our workshops. We implemented a Design-Thinking process in order to develop 7 workshops in Nairobi, Kenya. Our model was informed by a collaboration between mental health specialists, policymakers, and the adolescents themselves in order to create a Theory of Change that has the stakeholders interests at heart.
Our Process
The Design Thinking process started with the definition of 'the problem' we wanted to solve. We explored several formulations of the problem through workshops with adolescents and iterative discussions among mental health researchers and our design thinking specialist. Finally, we agreed upon a statement that defined and aligned us all -
“How might mental health services be designed to deliver the best possible service, at minimal cost and greater accessibility to pregnant teens and teen moms through the antenatal care (ANC) and postnatal care (PNC) stages?”
Workshop One
Adolescents, mental health experts, and policymakers develop a preliminary Theory of Change, forming the basis of our HAT model
Workshop Two
Adolescents interact with caregivers to identify additional problems to supplement the Theory of Change map
Workshop Three
Over three days, the adolescents reviewed their problems, ranked them, and ideated on what elements worsened their problems, and ones that improved them
Workshop Four
Adolescents participated in a visualisation exercise in which they imagined their ideal situation and how it would be different from their current situation
Workshop Five
Adolescents suggested solutions for their various problems, and wrote messages to be passed to different stakeholders in health and education sectors
Workshop Six
The last workshop focused on testing the proposed solution, and discussing the impact of the mental health cafe and its operations
Interested in learning more?
Read more about our research paper
Abstract: Adolescent perspectives on peripartum mental health prevention and promotion from Kenya: Findings from a design thinking approach