Elements of Family Planning Success

“Client-provider interactions” refers to the interpersonal exchanges between a client who receives health information and services and the clinic-based or outreach health providers who offer these services. In the early 1990s, attention to improving the quality of care of family planning services highlighted the need for client-centered services, including courteous treatment of clients and greater clarity of the information imparted to them.1 The emphasis on the importance of positive client-provider interactions (CPI) in family planning and other reproductive health services gained even more ground after the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo and the more recent Cairo +5 assessment exercises.2 Today, sound CPI is characterized not only by courtesy and clarity, but also by more listening and less “telling” on the part of the provider; encouragement of the client to ask questions and seek clarification; attention to sexuality and gender issues; discussion of contraceptive methods’ side effects; inquiry about the client’s risk of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV/AIDS; and other features.  This paper summarizes recommendations on the process and content of family planning related CPI, based on research and programmatic experience, and cites analyses of the policy, management, and training support needed to make better CPI a reality. While geared primarily to family planning, the processes and information transfers can be applied or adapted to other reproductive health services. To emphasize the importance of both the process of interacting with clients and the information essential for informed choice, the two are dealt with separately below. In reality, they intertwine inseparably.