Comparison of the perspectives of managers, employees and clients regarding the individual barriers of family planning counseling in healthcare centers of isfahan in 2012.
BACKGROUND
Family planning is a lifestyle that is selected voluntarily and is based on the knowledge, attitude and responsible decision making by couples in order to promote the health and welfare of the family and the advancement of the society. In this regard, family planning counseling plays an important role in making informed decisions if used properly and in a responsible way. Detection of individual barriers in family planning counseling based on the viewpoints of managers, employees and clients who are key participants in the healthcare service provision is a major step towards appropriate planning to modify or eliminate such barriers.


OBJECTIVE
The present study was conducted with the goal of comparing managers', employees' and clients' viewpoints about individual barriers in family planning counseling in health care centers in Isfahan in 2012.


METHODS
This was a cross-sectional one-step three-group comparative descriptive study conducted on 295 subjects including 59 managers, 110 employees and 126 clients in medical health care centers in Isfahan in 2012. The managers and employees were selected by census sampling, and the clients were recruited through convenient random sampling. The data collection tool was a researcher-designed questionnaire, which was designed in two sections of fertility and personal characteristics, and viewpoint measurement. Descriptive and inferential statistical tests were used to analyze the data.


RESULTS
The obtained results showed significant differences between mean scores of viewpoints in three groups of managers, employees and clients concerning individual barriers in family planning counseling. In addition, most of the managers, employees and clients reported individual barriers as an intermediate level barrier in the process of family planning counseling.


CONCLUSIONS
Results indicate that subjects in three studied groups hold different views regarding the individual barriers in family planning counseling. This difference in the perspectives may be a factor that affects the quality of the provided services. Therefore, it is necessary for the healthcare providers to consider the main concerns of their clients regarding family planning.
Department of Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, IR Iran.
Safoura
S
Taheri
Department of Medical Education , Medical Education Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, IR Iran.
Soheila
S
Ehsanpour
Nursing and Midwifery Care Research Center, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, IR Iran.
Shahnaze
S
Kohan
Ayatollah Madani Hospital, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Lorestan, IR Iran.
Saba
S
Farzi
Department of Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, IR Iran.
Molouk
M
Jaafarpour
Research Center for Social and Psychological Injuries, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, IR Iran ; Department of Midwifery, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, IR Iran.
Ashraf
A
Direkvand-Moghaddam
Barrier; Contraception; Counseling; Family Planning; Iran