Design Thinking Training for Improving PreP Service Delivery in Kenya

Category: Human-Centered Design, Training

Topic Areas: HIV Prevention, Public Health

Client: LVCT Health

Problem

While Kenya has made significant progress in reducing new HIV infections, around 33,000 new cases were reported in 2020, with half of these affecting young people aged 15-24. A third of all new infections were among young women. Although Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) is a proven HIV prevention method, its uptake remains low, particularly among those most at risk.

LVCT Health, a leader in HIV prevention in Kenya, identified a key challenge: the low uptake of PrEP services, despite their availability and potential to curb new infections. There was a need for innovative approaches to address barriers to PrEP adoption and improve service delivery.

Approach

LVCT Health, in collaboration with Buni Banda human-centered design experts, conducted a 5-day training for 19 LVCT staff from different departments, including executive team members. The training aimed to equip staff with design thinking principles and methods to enhance service delivery, particularly in scaling up PrEP services. Key elements included:

Interactive modules featuring individual and group assignments, class discussions, and worksheet-based exercises.
Brainstorming to cluster and develop concepts during group activities.
Prototyping and ranking of solutions generated during the ideation phase.
Daily feedback loops to refine training content and enhance learning outcomes.
Post-training mentorship to guide staff in developing a user-based research question guide for fieldwork.

Outcome/Impact

The training empowered LVCT staff to apply design thinking to their daily work, generating numerous ideas and solutions to improve PrEP uptake. A key outcome was the development of prototypes that can be further refined through user-based research. Ultimately, this was expected to improve the accessibility and uptake of PrEP services among high-risk populations, contributing to HIV prevention efforts in Kenya.