Enhancing Couples’ Family Planning Decisions through Male Engagement

Engaging men in family planning (FP) has been found to improve programmatic outcomes and increase gender equality. Little is known about the influence of couple communication on FP decision-making in India. We describe an intervention that utilized existing best practices for this purpose in Jharkhand, India. 572 men received 6, 90 minute sessions every 11 days for approximately 2 months. Sessions topics addressed: 1) gender equity, 2) communication skills, and 3) family planning knowledge. Post-intervention data collection is presently underway (October, 2012). At baseline 23% of the couples were using contraception and male condoms method most reported. We will test the relationship between changes in participants’ knowledge of FP, attitudes toward FP, GEM Scale scores, ease and frequency of communication and in increases in FP use. All statistically significant changes will be reported and complemented with qualitative data (focus group discussions & IDI) from participants and providers.