Authors: Clara Lemani, Jennifer H. Tang, Dawn Kopp, Billy Phiri, Chrissy Kumvula, Loyce Chikosi, Mwawi Mwale, Nora E. Rosenberg
The objective of this paper was to assess if training Health Surveillance Assistants (HSAs) in couples counseling would increase modern family planning uptake among young women in Malawi. In this cluster randomized controlled trial, 30 HSAs from Lilongwe, Malawi received training in family planning. The HSAs were then randomized 1:1 to receive or not receive additional training in couples counseling. All HSAs were asked to provide family planning counseling to women in their communities and record their contraceptive uptake over 6 months. 430 (53%) young women were counseled by the 15 HSAs who received couples counseling training, and 378 (47%) were counseled by the 15 HSAs who did not. 115 (26%) from the couples counseling group were accompanied by male partners present during their first visit, compared to only 6 (2%) from the other group. Nearly all (99.5%) initiated a modern family planning method, with no difference between groups. Women in the couples counseling group were 8% more likely to receive male condoms and 8% more likely to receive dual methods. Overall, training HSAs in family planning led to high modern family planning uptake among young women who had never used it before. Couples counseling training increased male involvement with a trend towards higher male condom uptake.
Link: Contraceptive uptake after training community health workers in couples counseling: A cluster randomized trial
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Resource Topic: CHW Role, Training
Resource Type: Journal articles
Year: 2017
Region: Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)
Country: Malawi
Publisher May Restrict Access: No