The Tipping Point (TP) project will develop and evaluate the effectiveness and scalability of a social network-based SBC intervention to improve FP uptake among young women in rural Niger. This research will be layered onto Kulawa, a five-year integrated health service delivery program addressing multiple outcomes, including FP, implemented in 15 districts of Niger (estimated population 12.5 million)
. TP will adapt community-based elements of Kulawa's SBC
approach based on formative research findings on the nature of the social networks of young married women/girls (ages 15-24). These will be implemented and compared to standard Kulawa and controls in two districts
. Proposed intervention approaches will create a landscape of social reinforcement, as we expect that learning and thinking together with social contacts will be more powerful than doing so alone. Our primary research questions include: Is a social network approach more effective at increasing FP use relative to a standard approach? Can we develop better methods to make social network intervention strategies more scalable? Can scale-up of a social network-informed program work in terms of quality, impact, and institutionalization? Can we develop an effective and feasible tool to identify aspects of social networks for social network-informed programming? How do social networks impact FP behavior and social norms changes that occur as the result of a social network and a traditional SBC intervention? Do SBC interventions that shift norms also change social networks?