Impact of a disability-targeted livelihoods programme in Bangladesh: study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial of STAR+

Trials

Study Protocol

M. Mahzuz Ali¹  Afsana Adiba²  Narayan Das²  Coral Fleming³  Tom Shakespeare⁴  Lena Morgon Banks⁴  Hannah Kuper⁴  Calum Davey⁵ 

[1] BRAC Bangladesh, Dhaka, Bangladesh;BRAC Institute of Governance and Development, BRAC University, Dhaka, Bangladesh;BRAC UK, London, UK;International Centre for Evidence in Disability, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK;International Centre for Evidence in Disability, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK;Centre for Evaluation, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK;

关键词: Disability;    Livelihoods;    Randomised control trial;    Bangladesh;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s13063-022-06987-2

 received in 2022-06-20, accepted in 2022-12-06,  发布年份 2022

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

IntroductionThere is little evidence on the impact of livelihood interventions amongst people with disabilities. Effective programmes are critical for reducing the heightened risk of poverty and unemployment facing persons with disabilities. STAR+ is a skills development and job placement programme targeted to out-of-school youth with disabilities (ages 14–35) living in poverty. It is a disability-targeted adaptation to an existing, effective intervention (STAR), which has been designed to address barriers to decent work for people with disabilities. This protocol describes the design of a cluster randomised controlled trial of STAR+ in 39 of the 64 districts of Bangladesh.MethodsBRAC has identified 1500 youth with disabilities eligible for STAR+ across its 91 branch offices (typically a geographical areas covering about 8 km radius from local BRAC office) catchment areas (clusters). BRAC has limited funding to deliver STAR+ and so 45 of the 91 branches have been randomly allocated to implement STAR+ (intervention arm). The remaining 46 branches will not deliver STAR+ at this time (control arm). Participants in the control-arm will receive usual care, meaning they are free to enrol in any other livelihood programmes run by BRAC or other organisations including standard STAR (being run in 15 control branches). The cRCT will assess the impact of STAR+ after 12 months on employment status and earnings (primary outcomes), as well as poverty, participation and quality of life (secondary outcomes). Analysis will be through intention-to-treat, with a random mixed effect at cluster level to account for the clustered design. Complementary qualitative research with participants will be conducted to triangulate findings of the cRCT, and a process evaluation will assess implementation fidelity, mechanisms of impact and the role of contextual factors in shaping variations in outcomes.DiscussionThis trial will provide evidence on the impact of a large-scale, disability-targeted intervention. Knowledge on the effectiveness of programmes is critical for informing policy and programming to address poverty and marginalisation amongst this group. Currently, there is little robust data on the effectiveness of livelihood programmes amongst people with disabilities, and so this trial will fill an important evidence gap.Trial registrationThis study has been registered with the Registry for International Development Impact Evaluations, (RIDIE Study ID: 6238114b481ad) on February 25, 2022, and the ISRCTN Registry (ID: ISRCTN15742977).

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2022

【 图 表 】

Fig. 1