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Understanding accelerators to improve SDG-related outcomes for adolescents-An investigation into the nature and quantum of additive effects of protective factors to guide policy making

Sherr, Lorraine; Haag, Katharina; Tomlinson, Mark; Rudgard, William E; Skeen, Sarah; Meinck, Franziska; Du Toit, Stefani M; ... Cluver, Lucie; + view all (2023) Understanding accelerators to improve SDG-related outcomes for adolescents-An investigation into the nature and quantum of additive effects of protective factors to guide policy making. PLoS One , 18 (1) , Article e0278020. 10.1371/journal.pone.0278020. Green open access

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Abstract

Recent evidence has shown support for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) accelerator concept, which highlights the need to identify interventions or programmatic areas that can affect multiple sustainable development goals (SDGs) at once to boost their achievement. These data have also clearly shown enhanced effects when interventions are used in combination, above and beyond the effect of single interventions. However, detailed knowledge is now required on optimum combinations and relative gain in order to derive policy guidance. Which accelerators work for which outcomes, what combinations are optimum, and how many combinations are needed to maximise effect? The current study utilised pooled data from the Young Carers (n = 1402) and Child Community Care (n = 446) studies. Data were collected at baseline (n = 1848) and at a 1 to 1.5- year follow-up (n = 1740) from children and young adolescents aged 9-13 years, living in South Africa. Measures in common between the two databases were used to generate five accelerators (caregiver praise, caregiver monitoring, food security, living in a safe community, and access to community-based organizations) and to investigate their additive effects on 14 SDG-related outcomes. Predicted probabilities and predicted probability differences were calculated for each SDG outcome under the presence of none to five accelerators to determine optimal combinations. Results show that various accelerator combinations are effective, though different combinations are needed for different outcomes. Some accelerators ramified across multiple outcomes. Overall, the presence of up to three accelerators was associated with marked improvements over multiple outcomes. The benefit of targeting access to additional accelerators, with additional costs, needs to be weighed against the relative gains to be achieved with high quality but focused interventions. In conclusion, the current data show the detailed impact of various protective factors and provides implementation guidance for policy makers in targeting and distributing interventions to maximise effect and expenditure. Future work should investigate multiplicative effects and synergistic interactions between accelerators.

Type: Article
Title: Understanding accelerators to improve SDG-related outcomes for adolescents-An investigation into the nature and quantum of additive effects of protective factors to guide policy making
Location: United States
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0278020
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0278020
Language: English
Additional information: © 2023 Sherr et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > Institute for Global Health > Infection and Population Health
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10163076
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