scholarly journals "You Can Collaborate and Go Together to Do Family Planning”: A Qualitative Endline Evaluation Study of Male Engagement in Promoting Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Services in Rural Kenya.

Author(s):  
Adelaide M Lusambili ◽  
Stefania Wisofschi ◽  
Constance Shumba ◽  
Peter Muriuki ◽  
Jerim Obure ◽  
...  

Abstract BACKGROUNDGlobally, male involvement in reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH) is associated with increased benefits for women, their children, and their communities. Between 2016 and 2020, the Aga Khan University has been implementing the Access to Quality of Care through Extending and Strengthening Health Systems (AQCESS), project funded by the Government of Canada and Aga Khan Foundation Canada (AKFC). A key component of the project was to encourage greater male engagement in RMNCH in rural Kisii and Kilifi, two predominantly patriarchal communities in Kenya, through a wide range of interventions. Towards the end of the project, we conducted a qualitative evaluation to explore how male engagement strategies influenced access to and utilization of RMNCH services. This paper presents the endline evaluative study findings on how male engagement influenced reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health in rural Kisii and Kilifi.METHODSThe study used complementing qualitative methods in the AQCESS intervention areas. We conducted 10 focus group discussions with the community members across four groups including adult women, adult men, adolescent girls, and adolescent boys. We also conducted 11 key informant interviews with facility health managers, and sub county and county officials who were aware of the AQCESS project.RESULTSMale engagement activities in Kisii and Kilifi counties were linked to improved knowledge and uptake of family planning, spousal/partner accompaniment to facility care and defeminization of social and gender roles.CONCLUSIONThis study supports the importance of male involvement in RMNCH in facilitating decisions on women and children’s health as well as in improving spousal support for use of family planning methods.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adelaide M Lusambili ◽  
Stefania Wisofschi ◽  
Constance Shumba ◽  
Peter Muriuki ◽  
Jerim Obure ◽  
...  

Abstract BackgroundGlobally, male involvement in reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH) is associated with increased benefits for women, their children, and their communities. Between 2016 and 2020, the Aga Khan University has been implementing the Access to Quality of Care through Extending and Strengthening Health Systems (AQCESS), project funded by the Government of Canada and Aga Khan Foundation Canada (AKFC). A key component of the project was to encourage greater male engagement in RMNCH in rural Kisii and Kilifi, two predominantly patriarchal communities in Kenya, through a wide range of interventions. Towards the end of the project, we conducted a qualitative evaluation to explore how male engagement strategies influenced access to and utilization of RMNCH services.AIM This paper presents the endline evaluative study findings on how male engagement influenced reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health in rural Kisii and Kilifi.METHODSThe study used complementing qualitative methods in the AQCESS intervention areas. We conducted 10 focus group discussions with the community members across four groups including adult women, adult men, adolescent girls, and adolescent boys. We also conducted 11 key informant interviews with facility health managers,and sub county and county officials who were aware of the AQCESS project.FINDINGSMale engagement activities in Kisii and Kilifi counties were linked to improved knowledge and uptake of family planning, spousal/partner accompaniment to facility care and defeminization of social and gender roles.CONCLUSIONThis study supports the importance of male involvement in RMNCH in facilitating decisions on women and children’s health as well as in improving spousal support for use of family planning methods.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adelaide M. Lusambili ◽  
Stefania Wisofschi ◽  
Constance Shumba ◽  
Peter Muriuki ◽  
Jerim Obure ◽  
...  

Background: Globally, male involvement in reproductive, maternal, newborn, and child health (RMNCH) is associated with increased benefits for women, their children, and their communities. Between 2016 and 2020, the Aga Khan University implemented the Access to Quality of Care through Extending and Strengthening Health Systems (AQCESS), project funded by the Government of Canada and Aga Khan Foundation Canada (AKFC). A key component of the project was to encourage greater male engagement in RMNCH in rural Kisii and Kilifi, two predominantly patriarchal communities in Kenya, through a wide range of interventions. Toward the end of the project, we conducted a qualitative evaluation to explore how male engagement strategies influenced access to and utilization of RMNCH services. This paper presents the endline evaluative study findings on how male engagement influenced RMNCH in rural Kisii and Kilifi.Methods: The study used complementing qualitative methods in the AQCESS intervention areas. We conducted 10 focus group discussions (FGDs) with 82 community members across four groups including adult women, adult men, adolescent girls, and adolescent boys. We also conducted 11 key informant interviews (KIIs) with facility health managers, and sub-county and county officials who were aware of the AQCESS project.Results: Male engagement activities in Kisii and Kilifi counties were linked to improved knowledge and uptake of family planning (FP), spousal/partner accompaniment to facility care, and defeminization of social and gender roles.Conclusion: This study supports the importance of male involvement in RMNCH in facilitating decisions on women and children's health as well as in improving spousal support for use of FP methods.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adelaide M. Lusambili ◽  
Peter Muriuki ◽  
Stefania Wisofschi ◽  
Constance S. Shumba ◽  
Michaela Mantel ◽  
...  

Male involvement in reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH) is known to improve maternal and child health outcomes. However, there is sub-optimal adoption of male involvement strategies in several low- and middle-income countries such as Kenya. Aga Khan University implemented Access to Quality of Care through Extending and Strengthening Health Systems (AQCESS), a project funded by the Government of Canada and Aga Khan Foundation Canada (AKFC), between 2016 and 2020 in rural Kisii and Kilifi counties, Kenya. A central element in the interventions was increasing male engagement in RMNCH. Between January and March 2020, we conducted an endline qualitative study to examine the perspectives of different community stakeholders, who were aware of the AQCESS project, on the facilitators and barriers to male involvement in RMNCH. We found that targeted information sessions for men on RMNCH are a major facilitator to effective male engagement, particularly when delivered by male authority figures such as church leaders, male champions and teachers. Sub-optimal male engagement arises from tensions men face in directly contributing to the household economy and participating in RMNCH activities. Social-cultural factors such as the feminization of RMNCH and the associated stigma that non-conforming men experience also discourage male engagement.


1973 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 765-768
Author(s):  
Robert D. Wright

In tropical Africa the primordial presence of enormous young child death rates precludes a successful frontal attack on birth rates through specialized programs. Experience in Nigeria indicates that gradual, quiet pressure can influence the power structure to tolerate and eventually espouse child spacing as an integral part of a program of services for child saving. The approach involves four phases: a low visibility start; obtaining high level acceptance; establishment of a federal training center to train cadres for state training programs; and deployment of trained primary care auxiliaries as a local maternal and child health-family planning service. In tropical Africa governmental attitudes toward family planning range from positive policy, to neutrality, to strong opposition. At present most Anglophone countries are favorable. Most Francophone countries are opposed. The general trend is toward a more favorable attitude toward family planning when it is a part of maternal and child health services.


F1000Research ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
pp. 229
Author(s):  
Anne Pfitzer ◽  
Christina Maly ◽  
Hannah Tappis ◽  
Mark Kabue ◽  
Devon Mackenzie ◽  
...  

Background: Most postpartum women in low- and middle-income countries want to delay or avoid future pregnancies but are not using modern contraception. One promising strategy for increasing the use of postpartum family planning (PPFP) is integration with maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) services. However, there is limited evidence on effective service integration strategies. We examine facilitators of and barriers to effective PPFP integration in MNCH services in Kenya and India.   Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional, mixed-method study in two counties in Kenya and two states in India. Data collection included surveying 215 MNCH clients and surveying or interviewing 82 health care providers and managers in 15 health facilities across the four sites. We analyzed data from each country separately. First, we analyzed quantitative data to assess the extent to which PPFP was integrated within MNCH services at each facility. Then we analyzed qualitative data and synthesized findings from both data sources to identify characteristics of well and poorly integrated facilities. Results: PPFP integration success varied by service delivery area, health facility, and country. Issues influencing the extent of integration included availability of physical space for PPFP services, health workforce composition and capacity, family planning commodities availability, duration and nature of support provided. Conclusions: Although integration level varied between health facilities, factors enabling and hindering PPFP integration were similar in India and Kenya. Better measures are needed to verify whether services are integrated as prescribed by national policies.


2004 ◽  
Author(s):  

In 1996, the government of India decided to provide a package of reproductive and child health services through the existing family welfare program, adopting a community needs assessment approach (CNAA). To implement this approach, the government abolished its practice of setting contraceptive targets centrally and introduced a decentralized planning strategy whereby health workers assessed the reproductive health needs of women in their respective areas and prepared local plans to meet those needs. They also involved community leaders to promote community participation in the reproductive and child health program. Since 1998, several evaluation studies have assessed the impact of CNAA on the program’s performance and community participation. These studies showed that the performance of the maternal health-care program improved, whereas the functioning of the family planning program initially declined but later recovered. The approach achieved little in boosting community involvement. This project tested a new model of health committee to help stimulate community participation in reproductive and child health activities at the village level. The experiment, described in this report, was conducted in the Hunsur block of the Mysore District in Karnataka for two years. Researchers evaluated the impact in terms of community involvement and utilization of reproductive and child health services.


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