thesis about family planning in the philippines

Improving the quality of family planning services in the Philippines: Barriers and opportunities

Affiliations.

• 1 Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
• 2 De La Salle University, Manila, Philippines.
• 3 RTI International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA.
• 4 Private Medical Practice, Manila, Philippines.
• 5 Independent Consultant, Manila, Philippines.
• 6 USAID Philippines, Manila, Philippines.
• PMID: 37486971
• DOI: 10.1002/hpm.3683

We conducted qualitative research with family planning clients, potential clients, and service providers on barriers and opportunities for improving the quality of family planning services in the Philippines. The family planning service providers included the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of the health system. Our goal was to aid in developing more effective family planning quality improvement (QI) programs. Our methods included focus groups, key informant interviews and thematic content analysis of the qualitative data. We found four themes: the components of quality of family planning care; factors influencing quality; challenges for improving quality; and provider bias in the types of family planning services offered to clients. We identified five implications for QI, including: reduce provider bias; level off the understanding of QI concepts and roles among the different family planning service providers; involve men more actively; design new digital communication strategies for reaching clients and potential clients; and explore collaborations with private sector pharmacies. The findings from this study can guide the development of a pilot family planning QI programme in the Philippines. The findings provide themes and practical insights for an intervention-focused theory of change on how to improve current programs, design new programs, be more responsive to the needs and concerns of clients and potential clients and be well-accepted and sustained by providers. This can lay the groundwork for improving family planning outcomes and reducing teenage pregnancy rates and the unmet need for family planning throughout the Philippines.

Keywords: Philippines; family planning; qualitative research; quality improvement; quality of care.

© 2023 The Authors. The International Journal of Health Planning and Management published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

• Family Planning Services*
• Philippines
• Private Sector*

Grants and funding

• 72049218CA00009/United States Agency for International Development

University of the Philippines

Population institute, you are here.

ABSTRACT OF THE PRE-PRINT PAPER

Assessment of Access to Family Planning Services in the Philippines using Spatial Analysis with Geographic Information Systems

by Marianne Amparo P. Guzman (2017)

This study assessed regional disparities in access to family planning (FP) services using spatial analysis through Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Specifically, the study identified regions with the highest population of vulnerable groups with inequity to access to FP and determined the association between the women’s use of modern FP methods and the proximity of their households to health facilities.

Using the regionally-aggregated data from the 2008 National Demographic and Health Survey for currently-married women’s (n=8,421) wealth status, type of residence, employment status, education level, use of modern contraceptive methods, and unmet need for family planning (FP), regions with vulnerable groups in terms of access to FP were identified. The 2008 NDHS georeferenced locations of clusters of household respondents (n=794 household clusters) and the Department of Health (DOH) georeferenced locations of 3,241 health facilities were linked through buffering to determine the households with a presence of health facilities in 2.5, 5, and 10 km. Buffering helped address the limitations on the analysis brought by geomasking or spatial displacement of NDHS GIS data.

GIS spatial analysis and visualization were able to identify and show regional disparity in access to FP across regions particularly in the inequity level in access to FP across regions and the association of the women’s use of modern FP with the distance between health facilities and their households. In both urban and rural areas, use of modern FP and 2.5 km distance between household and health facility did not show significant association, while a total of 6 regions, namely Ilocos Norte, Davao, Central Luzon, Bicol, Central Visayas, and Zamboanga Peninsula, showed significant association for 5 and 10 km distance in urban and rural areas.

Ang pananaliksik na ito ay sumiyasat sa pagkakaiba-iba ng mga rehiyon sa lebel ng access sa mga serbisyong ukol sa pagpaplano ng pamilya, gamit ang spatial analysis sa pamamagitan ng Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Natukoy ng pag-aaral ang mga rehiyon na siyang may pinakamataas na populasyon na nabibilang sa vulnerable groups na nakararanas ng hindi pantay na oportunidad sa pag-abot sa mga pangunahing serbisyo ng pagpapalano ng pamilya. Napag-aralan rin ang relasyon sa pagitan ng paggamit ng modernong pamamaraan ng family planning (FP) at ang pagkakalapit ng mga health facilities sa kabahayan ng mga kababaihan.

Gamit ang mga regionally-aggregated na datos mula sa 2008 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) ukol sa mga katangian ng kababaihang may-asawa (N=8,421) tulad ng wealth status, lugar ng tirahan, pagkakaroon ng trabaho, lebel ng edukasyon, paggamit ng modernong pamamaraan ng FP, at unmet need para sa FP, [BM1] natukoy ang mga rehiyon na may populasyon na nakaranas ng hindi pantay na oportunidad sa pag-abot ng mga serbisyo (inequity in access) na may kinalaman sa FP. Ginamit rin ang mga datos ng lokasyon ng mga lupon ng kabahayan mula sa NDHS (N=794 clusters) at lokasyon ng health facilities (N=3,241) na kinalap mula sa Departamento ng Kalusugan. Sa pamamagitan ng buffering, naipapakita ang mga lugar na mayroong health facility sa loob ng 2.5, 5, at 10 kilometro sa mga lugar na urban at rural. Ang buffering ay ginamit para makapagsagawa ng akmang pagsusuri sa kabila ng mga limitasyon sa datos.

Sa pamamagitan ng GIS spatial analysis at visualization, naipakita ang pagkakaiba-iba sa lebel ng access sa FP sa bawat rehiyon lalo na sa lebel ng inequity at sa relasyon sa pagitan ng paggamit ng modernong pamamaraan ng FP at layo ng health facility sa tirahan ng kababaihan. Sa layong 2.5 km sa urban at rural na mga lugar, walang nakitang relasyon sa pagitan ng paggamit ng modernong pamamaraan ng FP at pagkakalapit ng health facility sa kabahayan ng mga kababaihan. Mayroon naming nakitang ganoong relasyon sa parehong urban at rural na mga lugar sa anim na rehiyon kung pag-uusapan ay ang 5 at 10 km na distansya. Ang mga rehiyon na ito ay Ilocos, Davao, Bicol, Central Luzon, Central Visayas, at Zamboanga Peninsula.

Tel. No.: +63 2 8981 8500 local 2457 / 2468 E-mail: [email protected]

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