There is increasing recognition that community resilience plays a significant role in improving and enhancing youth health outcomes. However, there remains no systematic literature review on community resilience and its role in youth health outcomes in LMICs. This systematic review report presents the current landscape of community resilience and its contribution to improving youth health outcomes. The knowledge acquired from this investment can be leveraged to improve the enabling environments that are critical to cultivate healthy behaviors that promote positive outcomes throughout the life-course of young people.
As defined in USAID’s Youth in Development Policy (2012), young people include those individuals aged 10-29 years old. Adolescence and young adulthood are characterized by critical changes in young people’s development and health trajectories. To navigate through these stages and make healthy transitions to adulthood, adolescents and young adults need supportive relationships and environments both at home and in their communities. Due to the significant and unique life changes during these stages, competing demands and challenges can interfere with young peoples’ abilities to successfully manage their health. These challenges are compounded for youth in fragile settings, which are marked by instability and constant change. Access to health services is often markedly reduced in fragile settings, due to conflict, inaccessibility, or other factors. In addition, policies and services that are not inclusive of youth can pose more challenges that influence the extent to which adolescents and young people attain optimal health and well-being effectively. It is essential to understand these interactions between young people and their dynamic personal, community, and cultural contexts.
This systematic review report was motivated by the goal to deepen our understanding of youth’s health resilience in the context of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) through exploring broadly how resilience is defined, best practices, the extent to which shocks and stressors influence resilience and youth health behaviors, and how community resilience is being measured. The methodology in this report adheres strictly to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. The team searched 26 bibliographic databases and collections maintained by international development organizations and donors. After screening, appraising, and synthesizing a total of 118 peer-reviewed articles and reports were retrieved and included in the analysis. To address gaps in literature and to further contextualize learnings, key informant interviews (KIIs) were conducted with researchers, practitioners, and representatives from USAID’s Center for Resilience and USAID Missions Bureaus, and Independent Offices (MBIOs).