Elements of Family Planning Success

The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development called for significant improvements in family planning programs, emphasizing the importance of approaches that focus on meeting the needs of the individual. A growing body of research and program experience shows that approaches focused on improving quality of care are related to greater program effectiveness.  This paper treats the two separately, even though in reality they are closely intertwined. Thus, the first part of the paper summarizes and provides evidence for the key principles underlying high-quality CPI. The second part identifies the information that is essential for informed choice. The last part of the paper outlines the implications of the findings for research, provider training, program management, and policy.  Because the majority of those who use family planning methods are women, the paper uses the term “client” to refer to women who receive services from clinics or community-based distributors. Much of the guidance in this paper applies also to special client groups—e.g., men, unmarried female and male adolescents, and pregnant, post-abortion, or postpartum women—and to special settings such as the workplace, refugee camps, or community groups. Although increasing numbers of
programs offer information and services focused on these important groups and settings, discussion of their special needs lies beyond the scope of this document.
In particular, the quality of the client-provider interaction (CPI), along with other contextual factors of clients’ lives, is associated with the adoption, correct use, and continuation of modern family planning methods and with the achievement of other health care objectives.  This paper is intended to provide guidance to family planning programs on how to improve the quality of CPI. It synthesizes the findings from research studies and program experiences, summarizing the lessons learned about the CPI process and content. To emphasize the importance of both the CPI process used and the content provided, this