Anonymous Remote Counseling via Digital Platforms
RCTClinical Trial
Adolescents frequently hesitate to seek accurate sexual health information or ask sensitive questions due to fear of social stigma, privacy breaches, or judgment from local schoolteachers and authority figures.
Picture this
Instead of asking awkward questions out loud in front of peers or a local teacher, students log into a private digital suggestion box. A trained professional sitting in a distant office answers their personal messages confidentially, creating a safe wall of privacy that encourages honest inquiry.
What the evidence says
Facilitated course completion and remote interaction, contributing to a 0.11 SD increase in willingness to report sexual abuse (p < 0.05) and a 0.26 SD increase in abuse reporting attitudes (p < 0.01) six months post-intervention.
- Who was studied
- N = 1,522 treatment students in 46 classrooms across 21 urban Colombian public secondary schools.
- How
- Classroom-level RCT integrating password-protected accounts with dedicated, off-site Profamilia tutors providing asynchronous messaging and performance monitoring during an 11-week curriculum.
What to do
Structure digital health interventions with off-site, anonymous remote counselors rather than local classroom teachers to eliminate social stigma during sensitive Q&A sessions.
From the source
"Profamilia's course takes full advantage of Internet connectivity to provide an interactive experience and responsive, anonymous counseling... These features aim to create a safe social environment for adolescents to discuss sensitive topics."
Do Information Technologies Improve Teenagers’ Sexual Education? Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation in Colombia