Evaluating and Adapting Volunteer-Based Sexuality Education for Under-resourced Areas: Case Study of Taulebih in Indonesia

Abstract

Taulebih is a non-profit organization in Indonesia whose mission is to promote sexuality education and reproductive health. To extend its reach beyond urban communities, Taulebih launched Taulebih in Your Area (TiYA), a sexuality education teaching program for under-resourced areas of Indonesia. After two years of implementation, we conducted an organizational evaluation of the program. Volunteers accepted into the TiYA program completed mandatory online onboarding and training before field deployment. After delivering the sexuality education modules, volunteers submitted post-session feedback documenting contextual challenges and difficulties encountered during module implementation based on observation. These field experiences highlighted the need for Taulebih to evaluate implementation challenges and translate them into applicable solutions. Leveraging 53 sets of post-session feedback collected only from volunteers without measuring the learner outcomes, this qualitative study examines the challenges encountered by volunteers when delivering Taulebih’s modules in under-resourced areas. Constraint screening matrix are developed to validate field feedback before implementation. Using inductive thematic analysis, we identified seven categories of challenges and subsequently organized them into four themes: digital limitations (electricity and internet access), contextual mismatches between module content and learners’ environments, differences in cultural and linguistic contexts, and basic learning readiness, such as literacy levels. To screen and validate these challenges, we employed a process assessing pedagogical objectives, barriers to be resolved, and field validity. The findings indicate that, besides modifying the modules, Taulebih also adopted alternative interventions to improve contextual flexibility, onboarding procedures, field mapping, and context-based volunteer training. This study demonstrates the importance of evaluating not only educational materials but also the underlying implementation systems when adapting health education programs for under-resourced and culturally diverse settings.