A YouThrive Programme
Health Support for Adolescents and Young People
YouThrive Health helps adolescents and young people make informed health choices, access appropriate services and navigate important health transitions.
Through youth-friendly health education, HIV testing and care support, maternal and infant health interventions, and capacity building for service providers, the programme responds to different health needs and stages of life.
Why Youth Health Support Matters
Different health
needs at a critical
stage of life.
Adolescence and early adulthood bring big changes for young people — in health, relationships, responsibility and independence. No two journeys look the same.
One young person needs accurate information about sexual and reproductive health. Another needs support to test for HIV and connect with care. A young mother is learning to navigate pregnancy, breastfeeding and life with a new baby. A young person living with HIV is preparing to move into adult healthcare.
No young person should face these decisions alone. They deserve accurate information, supportive relationships and services that meet them where they are.
What is YouThrive Health?
One programme. Different
health journeys.
YouThrive Health brings together connected interventions that respond to the health needs adolescents and young people face across different stages of life. Explore each area to see how it works in practice.
Prevention, Health
Literacy and SRHR
Helping young people understand their health, relationships and rights so they can make informed choices.
Explore Prevention and SRHR
HIV Testing, Care and
Support
Supporting young people from HIV information and testing through linkage, ongoing support and transition into adult healthcare.
Explore HIV Testing, Care and Support
Young Mothers and
Infant Health
Supporting pregnant young women and young mothers through pregnancy, maternal health, PMTCT, breastfeeding, infant feeding and early motherhood.
Explore Young Mothers and Infant Health
Across Every Health Journey
A shared foundation for
youth-friendly health support.
Whether a young person is learning about sexual and reproductive health, testing for HIV, living with HIV or navigating early motherhood, the same foundations shape how they are supported.
Accurate, Age-Appropriate Information
Information young people can understand and apply to their own circumstances.
Confidence and Informed Decision-Making
Practical support to ask questions, consider options and make informed choices.
Mental and Emotional Wellbeing
Support that recognises the emotional realities surrounding health, relationships, HIV and early motherhood.
Health-Seeking and Service Navigation
Knowing when, where and how to access appropriate information, healthcare or additional support.
Healthy Relationships and Boundaries
Communication, respect, consent and personal boundaries across different health situations.
Supportive Relationships and Systems
Involving caregivers, families, service providers or community organisations where this strengthens the support around the young person.
Flexible Programme Delivery
Reaching young people
through the settings they
already use.
YouThrive Health can be adapted to different audiences, partnerships and service-delivery environments.
Direct Delivery
Zoë-Life works directly with young people, young mothers and, where relevant, caregivers.
Integrated Delivery
Health content can be integrated into schools, community programmes and existing health-service settings.
Implementer Capacity
Building
Healthcare workers, CBO staff and other implementers can be trained to deliver youth-friendly interventions within their own settings.
A Practical Tool for Trained Implementers
YouThrive Let's Chat.
YouThrive Let's Chat is a facilitated flip-file job aid used by healthcare workers, CBO staff and other implementers who have completed training in the YouThrive Health curriculum.
Six Key Conversation Topics
By combining clear visual guidance with facilitated discussion, the job aid helps trained implementers communicate sensitive health information in an accessible, consistent and engaging way.
YouThrive Let's Chat is not a public, stand-alone resource. It is provided for use by implementers trained in the YouThrive Health curriculum.
Discuss Training and Implementation
The Change We Work Towards
Healthier, more confident and
better-supported young
people.
YouThrive Health helps young people move from uncertainty and limited information towards greater understanding, confidence and connection to support. These are the changes we work towards, not measured outcomes.
Better Understand Their Health
Clearer, more accurate knowledge about health, HIV, relationships, pregnancy and available services.
Make More Informed Choices
A stronger ability to weigh options, ask questions and decide about their health and future.
Access Appropriate Services
Support to connect with healthcare and other relevant services when they need them.
Take Greater Responsibility for Their Health
Confidence to navigate care, manage ongoing health needs and prepare for growing independence.
Feel Better Supported
More informed support from caregivers, service providers and community organisations.
At the same time, healthcare workers, CBO staff and partner organisations
are better equipped
to provide age-appropriate and youth-responsive services.
Work With YouThrive Health
How your organisation can
get involved.
YouThrive Health is delivered in partnership. The right way in depends on who you are and the young people you already work with.
Schools
Integrate age-appropriate health literacy and SRHR into learner wellbeing and development programmes.
Community-Based Organisations
and NGOs
Deliver targeted health interventions, strengthen referral pathways, or equip staff to support young people and young mothers.
Healthcare Facilities
Strengthen youth-friendly HIV testing, linkage, ongoing care, transition services or maternal and infant health interventions.
Government and Implementing
Partners
Adapt, integrate or extend youth-responsive health interventions through existing services and systems.
Funders and Corporate Partners
Support programme delivery, implementation capacity, monitoring, learning and wider access for young people and families.
Frequently Asked Questions
Questions,
answered.
Find out who YouThrive Health is for, how the different health pathways work and how organisations can partner with us to support adolescents and young people.
Discuss a PartnershipWho is YouThrive Health for?
YouThrive Health supports adolescents and young people across different stages of health and development. Depending on the intervention, this includes younger adolescents, young people accessing HIV services, pregnant young women and young mothers. The programme also works with the caregivers, healthcare workers, CBO staff and organisations that support them.
What are the main areas of YouThrive Health?
YouThrive Health brings together three connected programme areas:
- Prevention, Health Literacy and SRHR
- HIV Testing, Care and Support
- Young Mothers and Infant Health
Each area responds to different health needs while sharing the same youth-friendly approach to information, decision-making, service access and support.
What is Talk Test Treat?
Talk Test Treat is YouThrive Health's HIV pathway. It helps young people access understandable HIV information and supportive conversations, HIV testing and, where needed, linkage to appropriate treatment and ongoing care.
Zoë-Life does not provide HIV treatment directly. Young people who need treatment are linked to appropriate healthcare services.
What does YAMA stand for?
YAMA stands for Young Adolescents Moving Ahead. It supports younger adolescents with age-appropriate health information and practical guidance as they navigate the changes, relationships and decisions that come with adolescence.
Does YouThrive MAMA always involve grandmothers?
No. YouThrive MAMA can work directly with young mothers, include intergenerational support where this is appropriate, or be delivered through trained healthcare and community-based implementers. Grandmothers may form part of some approaches, but they are not required in every implementation.
How does YouThrive Health connect with YouThrive Schools?
YouThrive Health can form part of YouThrive Schools, where age-appropriate health content is integrated alongside the programme's broader Life Skills and Wellbeing offering.
YouThrive Health is not limited to schools. Its interventions can also be delivered through communities, healthcare facilities and partner organisations.
What is the YouThrive Let's Chat job aid?
YouThrive Let's Chat is a facilitated flip-file job aid for healthcare workers, CBO staff and other implementers who have completed training in the YouThrive Health curriculum.
It supports facilitated conversations across six topics: HIV Basics, Supportive Transition, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Mental Health, Gender-Based Violence, and Maternal and Child Health.
It is not a public, stand-alone resource and is provided for use by trained implementers.
Can other organisations deliver YouThrive Health?
Yes. Community-based organisations, NGOs, healthcare facilities and other partners can work with Zoë-Life to integrate relevant YouThrive Health interventions into their own settings.
Depending on the programme area and implementation model, this may include training, implementation support, referral strengthening and ongoing technical assistance.
Support Healthier Futures
Help young people access the
right support at the right
time.
YouThrive Health offers adaptable interventions for schools, communities, healthcare settings and partner organisations, so more young people can gain knowledge, access services and navigate important health journeys with confidence.
Discuss a YouThrive Health Partnership
HIV literacy, sexual and reproductive health and rights, mental wellbeing and health-seeking behaviour.
Consent, gender-based violence prevention, healthy relationships and personal safety.
Career guidance, subject choices, tertiary education preparedness and work readiness.
The school-based delivery platform that integrates Life Skills and Wellbeing with YouThrive Health, Safe and Careers.