Counseling Women and Couples on Family Planning: A Randomized Study in Jordan.
This article evaluates the effects of involving men in family planning counseling in Jordan using a randomized experiment. We randomly assigned a sample of 1,247 married women to receive women-only counseling, couples counseling, or no counseling. We measured the effects of each type of counseling on family planning use, knowledge, attitudes, and spousal communication about family planning. Compared to no counseling, couples counseling led to a 54 percent increase in uptake of modern methods. This effect is not significantly different from the 46 percent increase in modern method uptake as a result of women-only counseling. This outcome may be due, in part, to lower rates of compliance with the intervention among those assigned to couples counseling compared to women-only counseling. To realize the possible added benefits of involving men, more tailored approaches may be needed to increase men's participation.
Abt Associates, 4550 Montgomery Ave. #800N, Bethesda, MD 20814.
Marianne
M
El-Khoury
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Rebecca
R
Thornton
Abt Associates, 4550 Montgomery Ave. #800N, Bethesda, MD 20814.
Minki
M
Chatterji
Monitoring, Evaluation and ResearchOfficer,Abt Associates-led SHOPS project, Amman, Jordan.
Sarah
S
Kamhawi
Abt Associates, 4550 Montgomery Ave. #800N, Bethesda, MD 20814.
Phoebe
P
Sloane
Technical Specialist, Abt Associates, Amman, Jordan.
Mays
M
Halassa
D000328:Adult; D003376:Counseling / Q000379:methods*; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005193:Family Planning Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007597:Jordan; D008297:Male; D012736:Sex Education / Q000379:methods*