Context
The project
In partnership with PATH and Ethiopia's Ministry of Health, Derz Consulting adapted the Living Labs model to the Ethiopian context to better understand and address barriers to immunization among zero-dose and under-immunized children, as well as adolescent girls eligible for HPV vaccination.
The project sought to uncover the demand-side, supply-side, and gender-related factors influencing vaccine uptake and to co-create practical solutions with the people most affected, including caregivers, adolescents, healthcare workers, community leaders, and decision-makers.
Funder: Gates Foundation
Our approach
The process
Using a Human-Centered Design (HCD) approach grounded in PATH's Living Labs model, Derz conducted the following activities:
- Discover: Engaged 149 participants across three cities to explore experiences along the journey to health and immunization, with caregivers, adolescents, healthcare workers, community leaders, and decision-makers
- Define: Synthesised field data into user stories, journey maps, and key opportunity areas, surfacing shared patterns and priority barriers across routine immunization, measles, and HPV vaccination
- User labs: Facilitated rapid user labs with 55 participants to prioritise barriers and generate solution concepts, including morning overcrowding, fear of mistreatment, and low HPV awareness among out-of-school adolescents
- Dream: Developed 15 low-fidelity prototype concepts in collaboration with lab members, refining them through multiple rounds of feedback across stakeholder groups
- Design: Tested 15 prototypes with 131 participants across the three cities; 6 high-potential interventions, including "Idir for Health" and "Faith-led HPV Platforms", were refined for live-context piloting
- Dissemination: Convened a national stakeholder gallery walk to share findings, testing results, and recommendations with the Ministry of Health and sector partners
Project Gallery
Outcomes
- Identified critical barriers affecting routine childhood immunization, measles vaccination, and HPV vaccine uptake
- Co-created and tested 15 solution concepts with communities, healthcare workers, and decision-makers
- Refined six high-potential interventions for further piloting, including community-based referral systems and faith-led HPV awareness platforms
- Generated actionable insights on the feasibility, desirability, and effectiveness of each intervention through live testing
- Convened national stakeholders to share findings, lessons learned, and recommendations for strengthening immunization services
- Contributed to the adaptation and documentation of the PATH Living Labs model for use in Ethiopia