Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Ensuring Adequate Financing Of Family Planning Commodities And Services, Moazzam Ali, Benjamin Bellows

Reproductive Health

Increasing efficient and effective investment in family planning (FP) through the public and private sectors is key to meeting the FP2020 goal of helping 120 million additional women become modern contraceptive users. This policy brief identifies several policy and program considerations to ensure adequate financing of family planning commodities and services: sustained fundraising, pooling, and strategic purchasing; reaching new users and improving continuation rates among current users; and conducting further research on family planning quality performance metrics to test their correlation with higher continuation rates. Future efforts to reduce unmet need for FP must consider consumers’ out-of-pocket costs, programmatic cost-effectiveness, …

Changes In Household Well Being And Resilience: The Role Of Population, Family Planning And Reproductive Health In The Tuungane Project, Kristen P. Patterson

Reproductive Health

Both the family planning sector and the environmental sector will be interested in this synopsis of findings from a study of the first four years of the Tuungane integrated population, health, and environment (PHE) project in Tanzania. The objectives of the Tuungane Project are to achieve healthier families, healthier forests, and healthier fisheries, using an integrated, cross-sectoral approach. Analyses of the 2011 baseline and 2016 midline quantitative data, and additional qualitative data from 2016, measured the project’s progress and shed light on the contribution of the project interventions to building resilience, and on the links between family planning and other …

Strengthening The Integration Of Family Planning And Hiv Services At The Community Level In Kenya, Wilson Liambila, Sara Chace Dwyer, Brian Mdawida, Charlotte E. Warren, Melsa Lutomia, Jane Koech, Elizabeth Washika, Aparna Jain

Reproductive Health

Study findings reveal that many Kenyan women living with HIV are comfortable receiving family planning (FP) services from community health volunteers and with proper training and support, community health volunteers have the potential to provide integrated FP/HIV services. Community-based integrated FP/HIV services could help connect women living with HIV who want to prevent or postpone a pregnancy to contraceptive services, which can reduce unintended pregnancies and in turn maternal mortality and vertical transmission of HIV. This implementation research study offers evidence of the feasibility, quality of care, and acceptability of using community health volunteers to integrate family planning into HIV/AIDS …

Élargissement Du Choix Des Contraceptifs, Heather Clark, Saumya Ramarao, Catherine Unthank, Kazuyo Machiyama, Nandita Thatte

Reproductive Health

Ce document fait partie de l’un des sept Résumés des preuves sur la planification familiale préparés dans le cadre du Sommet de la planification familiale tenu à Londres le 11 juillet 2017. Les résumés mettent en exergue les éléments de preuve et fournissent des considérations sur la recherche et les programmes pour améliorer l’accès à la planification familiale et réduire les grossesses non désirées. Les considérations relatives aux programmes sont basées sur les opinions expertes des auteurs, qui ont procédé à des examens documentaires sur la base des preuves existantes.

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This is one of seven Family Planning Evidence Briefs …

Réduction Des Grossesses Précoces Et Involontaires Chez Les Adolescents, Francis Obare, Caroline W. Kabiru, Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli, Matti Parry

Reproductive Health

Ce document fait partie de l’un des sept Résumés des preuves sur la planification familiale préparés dans le cadre du Sommet de la planification familiale tenu à Londres le 11 juillet 2017. Les résumés mettent en exergue les éléments de preuve et fournissent des considérations sur la recherche et les programmes pour améliorer l’accès à la planification familiale et réduire les grossesses non désirées. Les considérations relatives aux programmes sont basées sur les opinions expertes des auteurs, qui ont procédé à des examens documentaires sur la base des preuves existantes.

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This is one of seven Family Planning Evidence Briefs …

Accélérer L’Adoption De La Planification Familiale Volontaire Et Fondée Sur Les Droits Dans Les Pays En Développement, Kazuyo Machiyama, Francis Obare, Venkatraman Chandra-Mouli, Doris Chou, Mario Festin, Rajat Khosla, James Kiarie, Lale Say, Nandita Thatte

Reproductive Health

Ce document fait partie de l’un des sept Résumés des preuves sur la planification familiale préparés dans le cadre du Sommet de la planification familiale tenu à Londres le 11 juillet 2017. Les résumés mettent en exergue les éléments de preuve et fournissent des considérations sur la recherche et les programmes pour améliorer l’accès à la planification familiale et réduire les grossesses non désirées. Les considérations relatives aux programmes sont basées sur les opinions expertes des auteurs, qui ont procédé à des examens documentaires sur la base des preuves existantes.

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This is one of seven Family Planning Evidence Briefs …

Expanding Access To Family Planning For Married Adolescent Girls In The Urban Slums Of Dhaka, Fauzia Akhter Huda, Nancy Termini Lachance

Reproductive Health

Early pregnancy is associated with adverse health, social, and economic consequences for girls, and Bangladesh has an adolescent fertility rate that is among the highest in the region. Poor, slum-dwelling girls are especially vulnerable. This policy brief outlines a project that icddr,b, a STEP UP project partner, initiated to test three innovative strategies aiming to support the unmet family planning needs of these girls. This brief concludes with government-level policy and program recommendations based on the evidence of this project for leveraging existing government health programs to better serve the needs of married adolescent girls and reduce their risks of …

Expanding Contraceptive Choice, Heather Clark, Saumya Ramarao, Catherine Unthank, Kazuyo Machiyama, Nandita Thatte

Reproductive Health

Expanding the range of contraceptive options helps individuals to make choices appropriate to their needs and circumstances, allows them to switch from one method to another if desired, and reflects a program focus on quality and rights. This policy brief outlines policy and program considerations in order to establish and maintain well-functioning supply chains for an expanded choice of contraceptives: introducing new contraceptive technologies to satisfy the diverse preferences of women and their partners; overcoming access barriers to existing methods such as adverse economic and social circumstances, including gender norms; and maximizing the potential of expanded contraceptive choice by ensuring …

How Are Educated Women In Ghana Regulating Fertility Without High Levels Of Modern Contraceptive Use?, Kazuyo Machiyama, Cicely Marston, Nancy Termini Lachance, Terence Adda-Balinia, Placide Tapsoba

Reproductive Health

While Ghana has made striking gains in enabling its women to use family planning to reduce family size—the total fertility rate shifted from 7.0 to 4.2 children per woman from the 1970s to the 2010s—the Strengthening Evidence for Programming on Unintended Pregnancy (STEP UP) studies found that educated women in Ghana are achieving their fertility goals by limited use of highly effective contraceptive methods. Their fertility regulation strategies involve contraceptive method mosaics that have not been captured by the DHS. This evidence summary aggregates research from the STEP UP Research Programme Consortium along with other related evidence to explore this …

Amélioration De La Prestation De Services De Planification Familiale Pendant Les Crises Humanitaires, Chi-Chi Undie, Rajat Khosla, Karl Blanchet

Reproductive Health

Ce document fait partie de l’un des sept Résumés des preuves sur la planification familiale préparés dans le cadre du Sommet de la planification familiale tenu à Londres le 11 juillet 2017. Les résumés mettent en exergue les éléments de preuve et fournissent des considérations sur la recherche et les programmes pour améliorer l’accès à la planification familiale et réduire les grossesses non désirées. Les considérations relatives aux programmes sont basées sur les opinions expertes des auteurs, qui ont procédé à des examens documentaires sur la base des preuves existantes.

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This is one of seven Family Planning Evidence Briefs …

Assessment Of The Implementation And The Achievements Of The 3d Approach Within Senegal’S National Family Planning Action Plan (Nfpap), Fatou Mbow, Nafissatou Diop

Reproductive Health

Senegal’s 2012–2015 National Family Planning Action Plan (NFPAP) is based on the 3D approach (Democratization, Demedicalization, and Decentralization). As the plan came to an end and a new one was being developed, the Evidence Project/Population Council conducted a study to document the implementation and achievements of the 3D approach in relation to the NFPAP. This brief offers highlights of the study which used a desk review and qualitative research. It describes lessons learned from the implementation of the approach, and shares good practices that can be adopted by other countries, particularly those of the Ouagadougou Partnership. Finally, the study provides …

Assessment Of The Implementation And Achievements Of The 3d Approach In Senegal’S National Family Planning Action Plan—Part 2: Summary Report, Fatou Mbow, Leslie Dubent, Nafissatou Diop, Fatou Ndiaye Turpin, Bocar Mamadou Daff, Babacar Mane

Reproductive Health

Senegal’s 2012–15 National Family Planning Action Plan (NFPAP) is based on the 3D approach (Democratization, Demedicalization, and Decentralization). As the plan came to an end and a new one was being developed, the Evidence Project/Population Council conducted a study to document the implementation and achievements of the 3D approach in relation to the NFPAP. The study documents the approach using a desk review and qualitative research. It describes lessons learned from the implementation of the approach, and shares good practices that can be adopted by other countries, particularly those of the Ouagadougou Partnership. Finally, the study provides evidence for decisionmaking, …

Ensuring Contraceptive Security Through Effective Supply Chains, Moazzam Ali

Reproductive Health

Establishing and maintaining well-functioning supply chains that meet the needs of public and private sectors, as well as health professionals at all levels in family planning programs, will play a critical role in reducing unmet need for modern contraception in low and middle income countries. This evidence brief identifies two evidence-based solutions to address the challenges faced by these countries: increasing the visibility of product flows and user demand, and leveraging the expertise of the private and public sector to ensure a total market approach to supply-chain management. Strengthening the capacity of public and private-sector family planning providers and managers …

Women's Perceptions And Experiences Of Family Planning By Contraceptive Methods In Kenya And Bangladesh: Preliminary Results, Kazuyo Machiyama, Joyce Mumah, Caroline W. Kabiru, George Odwe, Francis Obare, Fauzia Akhter Huda, John C. Cleland, John B. Casterline

Reproductive Health

No abstract provided.

Assurer La Sécurité Des Contraceptifs Par Des Chaînes D’Approvisionnement Efficacies, Moazzam Ali

Reproductive Health

Ce document fait partie de l’un des sept Résumés des preuves sur la planification familiale préparés dans le cadre du Sommet de la planification familiale tenu à Londres le 11 juillet 2017. Les résumés mettent en exergue les éléments de preuve et fournissent des considérations sur la recherche et les programmes pour améliorer l’accès à la planification familiale et réduire les grossesses non désirées. Les considérations relatives aux programmes sont basées sur les opinions expertes des auteurs, qui ont procédé à des examens documentaires sur la base des preuves existantes.

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This is one of seven Family Planning Evidence Briefs …

Bangladesh: Using Strong Evidence And Strategic Collaboration To Increase Access To Menstrual Regulation With Medication, Nancy Termini Lachance, Sharif M.I. Hossain

Reproductive Health

Through close cooperation with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of Bangladesh, and other partners, STEP UP generated strong evidence and cultivated ongoing collaboration that contributed to policy changes and program expansions to increase access to menstrual regulation with medication (MRM). Study results demonstrate that MRM is acceptable and effective in Bangladesh, and has thus been legalized and folded into the national FP program and scaled up nationwide. However, ongoing observation and studies are still needed to understand whether the efficacy and acceptability of MRM remains the case when services are delivered at scale on a national level. Furthermore, …

Expanding Access To Integrated Family Planning Intervention Packages For Married Adolescent Girls In Urban Slums Of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Fauzia Akhter Huda, Hassan Rushekh Mahmood, Sadia Afrin, Anisuddin Ahmed, Nafis Al Haque, Bidhan Krishna Sarker

Reproductive Health

This research report describes an intervention study conducted among married adolescent girls aged 15–19 years in four urban slums of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Objectives of the study were to examine the acceptability and feasibility of forming married adolescent girls’ clubs, and involving community health volunteers (Shasthya Skebikas) and marriage registrars to increase access to family planning (FP) information and services, to promote the uptake of long-acting reversible contraceptive methods, and to provide FP information to newlywed couples at the time of marriage registration. The study findings revealed that a noteworthy number of married adolescent girls received FP-related information, mostly from the …

Evaluation Of The Herhealth Intervention In Bangladesh: Baseline Findings From An Implementation Research Study, Md. Irfan Hossain, Abdullah Al Mahmud Shohag, Ashish Bajracharya, Ubaidur Rob, Laura Reichenbach

Reproductive Health

The Business for Social Responsibility's (BSR) HERproject is a collaborative initiative that strives to empower low-income women working in global supply chains in 14 countries worldwide. One of the HERproject’s three pillars is HERhealth, which seeks to improve the health-related knowledge and behaviors, and access to health services and products, of low-income working women. In Bangladesh, HERhealth specifically addresses reproductive health and family planning needs. BSR asked the Evidence Project/Population Council to conduct an implementation science study assessing the effectiveness of BSR’s HERhealth model in Bangladesh. This study is one of the first studies of female garment workers in Dhaka …

Advocating Corporate Policy Change On Women's Health And Family Planning: Lessons From The Environmental Movement, Matthew Mcfall, Carolyn Rodehau, David Wofford

Reproductive Health

This brief presents key lessons from the environmental movement on effective strategies for driving changes in corporate policies and practices and creating new mechanisms for holding businesses accountable for environmental impacts. Corporate policies and voluntary and “soft law” standards may be unfamiliar to many women’s health advocates, but they are likely to have increasing importance in the years to come. The global health community can learn from the experience of environmentalists on how to engage businesses on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) standards and corporate practices around women’s health. The brief offers six recommendations for moving forward.

Increasing Access To Reproductive Health Care Through Improved Service Delivery, Gul Rashida, Iram Kamran, Muhammad Khalil, Zeba Tasneem, Rehan M. Niazi, Mumraiz Khan, Tahira Parveen

Reproductive Health

The study documented in this report examines the provision and utilization of public and private sector maternal and child health services in Punjab, Pakistan with a focus on family planning (FP) services. It is aimed at enabling a better understanding of the specific demand and supply dynamics leading to low contraceptive prevalence despite unmet need, and the opportunities that must be seized to enhance access to quality family planning services. The report is part of a larger project being implemented by the Population Council with the assistance of the Department for International Development, UK entitled “Sustaining Focus on Provincial Governments …

Partenariat Avec Le Secteur Privé Pour Renforcer La Fourniture De La Contraception, Karen Hardee, David Wofford, Nandita Thatte

Reproductive Health

Ce document fait partie de l’un des sept Résumés des preuves sur la planification familiale préparés dans le cadre du Sommet de la planification familiale tenu à Londres le 11 juillet 2017. Les résumés mettent en exergue les éléments de preuve et fournissent des considérations sur la recherche et les programmes pour améliorer l’accès à la planification familiale et réduire les grossesses non désirées. Les considérations relatives aux programmes sont basées sur les opinions expertes des auteurs, qui ont procédé à des examens documentaires sur la base des preuves existantes.

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This is one of seven Family Planning Evidence Briefs …

Improving Family Planning Service Delivery In Humanitarian Crises, Chi-Chi Undie, Rajat Khosla, Karl Blanchet

Reproductive Health

Meeting family planning (FP) needs in humanitarian emergencies is challenging but feasible, and could present opportunities for reaching marginalized, remote, or otherwise underserved populations. Although high-quality evidence on family planning in emergencies is needed to improve access to voluntary FP services in humanitarian settings, this evidence brief identifies several promising, evidence-based interventions that can help improve uptake: provide comprehensive SRH services in line with global norms, provide a full range of family planning methods via mobile clinics, train mobile health workers to provide short-acting methods, second refugee providers to health facilities to provide FP in humanitarian settings, train community health …

L’Expérience De Femmes Ayant Subi Une Grossesse Non Désirée Au Sénégal : Une Étude Qualitative, Fatou Mbow, Nafissatou Diop

Reproductive Health

Au Sénégal, l’avortement n’est autorisé que lorsque la vie de la mère est menacée. Depuis 2013, le Comité de plaidoyer pour l’accès à l’avortement médicalisé au Sénégal (plus connu sous le nom de « Taskforce ») mène des activités de plaidoyer pour une révision de la loi. L’avortement est maintenant plus ouvertement discuté, mais la voix des femmes victimes de grossesse non désirée n’est pas entendue. Cette étude documente l’expérience de ces femmes pour fournir des évidences pour le plaidoyer. L’autorisation de l'avortement médicalisée contribuera à respecter les droits humains et de santé des femmes, ainsi qu’à réduire les conséquences …

Strengthening School-Based Sexual And Reproductive Health Education And Services In Accra, Ghana, Nancy Termini Lachance, Terence Adda-Balinia

Reproductive Health

This evidence brief presents results of a study aimed to assess the acceptability and feasibility of two proposed solutions for strengthening the content and delivery of in-school sexual and reproductive health (SRH) programs in Ghana. The study was conducted in Nima, a suburb of Accra, where stakeholders agreed there was a need for enhanced SRH services in school. The study explored providing comprehensive in-school SRH education to adolescents using trained psychologists and health workers to deliver and explain comprehensive sexuality education to adolescents and link them as needed to outside services. There was unanimous agreement that adolescent SRH needs are …

Introduction And Approval Of Menstrual Regulation With Medication In Bangladesh: A Stakeholder Analysis, Fauzia Akhter Huda, Sadia Afrin, Bidhan Krishna Sarker, Hassan Rushekh Mahmood, Anadil Alam

Reproductive Health

Despite the significant progress that the government of Bangladesh has made toward introducing menstrual regulation with medication (MRM) into the national health program, there has been no systematic documentation on the introduction of MRM in Bangladesh, and on the approval process of local manufacturing of the mifepristone-misoprostol combination for menstrual regulation. This Research Report presents findings from the stakeholder analysis which was initiated to document the entire process of introducing MRM in the country. Findings from key informant interviews indicated some crucial factors that facilitated the process; these are presented here according to a four-part policy analysis framework: context, content, …

Reasons For Unmet Need For Family Planning, With Attention To The Measurement Of Fertility Preferences In Kenya And Bangladesh, Joyce Mumah, Kazuyo Machiyama, Caroline W. Kabiru, George Odwe, Francis Obare, Fauzia Akhter Huda, John B. Casterline, John C. Cleland

Reproductive Health

No abstract provided.

Partnering With The Private Sector To Strengthen Provision Of Contraception, Karen Hardee, David Wofford, Nandita Thatte

Reproductive Health

Family planning is most successful when clients have a variety of methods to choose from and a variety of service delivery sites from which to obtain them. The private sector plays a critical role in family planning and can contribute to a total market approach to providing contraceptives. Among private sector service options, social marketing, social franchising, and pharmacies and drug shops most readily contribute to sustainable markets for contraceptive services. Corporate sector workplace programs also show promise for reaching millions of women. This evidence brief outlines a number of policy and program considerations for countries as they move toward …

Adolescent Friendly Health Corners (Afhcs) In Selected Government Health Facilities In Bangladesh: An Early Qualitative Assessment, Sigma Ainul, Iqbal Ehsan, Tasmiah Tanjeen, Laura Reichenbach

Reproductive Health

With high rates of early marriage, especially among girls, a significant proportion of adolescents in Bangladesh need sexual and reproductive health services (SRH), including contraceptive information. To address this gap and ensure that adolescents throughout the country, including unmarried adolescents, have access to SRH services through public health facilities, the Maternal and Child Health Services Unit of the Directorate General of Family Planning, with financial and technical assistance from development partners, has begun establishing Adolescent Friendly Health Corners (AFHCs) at selected government facilities at district and union levels. The Evidence Project/Population Council was asked to assess the implementation of the …

Indicators For Measurement And Improvement Of The Quality Of Family Planning Programs: The Philippines, 1997–1998, Population Council

Reproductive Health

Quality is a critical dimension of health service provision and this brief aims to highlight the creation and use of indicators for quality of care to enhance the achievement of the reproductive health goals in the Philippines and beyond. In response to the need for program managers to understand the quality of services at the field level, the Situation Analysis approach was developed. The research underscores the importance of a composite index when measuring quality. In the case of the Philippines, the evidence suggests the need for more quality-of-care monitoring in addition to expanded access to contraceptives. Investment in counseling …

Married Young Women And Girls' Family Planning And Maternal Heath Preferences And Use In Ethiopia, Aparna Jain, Elizabeth Tobey, Hussein Ismail, Annabel Erulkar

Reproductive Health

Married young women and girls are the primary users of youth-centered sexual and reproductive health services in Ethiopia and, given the health risks associated with early and closely-spaced pregnancies, represent an especially important population to reach with sexual and reproductive health services. This brief looks specifically at the needs and preferences for family planning and reproductive health services among married young women and girls, with recommendations for how to more effectively ensure that they have access to those services.