The Centre for Social Sciences Research (CSSR) and the  Institute for Democracy, Citizenship and Public Policy in Africa  (IDCPPA) at the University of Cape Town invite you to join us for a lunchtime seminar on 25 August 2026 at 12:45pm. The seminar will be presented by Mrs. Lara Court.

About the Seminar:

Mapping complex systems: Review of a causal loop diagram of early adolescent and caregiver sexuality communicatio

Masithetheni (“Let’s Talk”) involves the adaptation, implementation and evaluation of a caregiver training program to support sexuality communication between early adolescents (10 – 14-year-olds) and their primary caregivers. Using Systems Thinking and Community Engaged Research approaches, the project is guided by the Six Steps in Quality Intervention Development framework.

Formative data collection (step 1), involving 41 interviews and 8 focus group discussions with a variety of stakeholders, is complete. This supported an understanding of the nature of early adolescent-caregiver sexuality communication (CASC) in the Western Cape context, together with multilevel barriers and facilitators of this communication and how it fits into sexuality communication within adolescents’ broader social network.

This qualitative data, together with information from a scoping review, was also used to develop a causal loop diagram (CLD) (step 2). The CLD visually represents how underlying factors interact to influence the nature, frequency and comprehensiveness of CASC in our context over time. In addition to supporting our understanding of the complex nature of CASC, the CLD helped identify malleable factors with scope for change and possible leverage points for the intervention.

Against the backdrop of the Masithetheni project, I will discuss the process used to develop the CLD; the sub-systems, key feedback loops and leverage points identified, as well as how this will feed into the following steps of the project.

Speakers

Lara Court has a Master’s in Public Health and a background in paediatric Occupational Therapy, in both public and private health and education sectors. She supports qualitative research and teaching qualitative methods within the School of Public Health, with her research focusing on adolescent and maternal sexual and reproductive health, including adherence and HIV prevention, and the development and implementation of feasible and contextually appropriate health interventions.

  25 August 2026
  12:45 - 14:00 SAST
  CSSR Seminar Room, 4.29, Robert Leslie Social Sciences Building, UCT

Hosted by the Centre for Social Science Research and the Institute for Democracy, Citizenship and Public Policy in Africa