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Learning Objective 1: The learner will be able to explore changes and barriers to family planning practices perceived by different stakeholders in an Ethiopian rural community.
Learning Objective 2: The learner will be able to explore the utility of CBPR for successful community-based global health programs in an underserved country.
A community-based participatory research (CBPR) project was conducted with the aim of increasing family planning practice in an Ethiopian rural community. As a process evaluation almost two years after the project, the purpose of this study was to identify changes and barriers to family planning in both individuals and community.
Methods:
Five focus groups were conducted with 35 key informants: 7 women, 8 men, 8 community leaders, 7 community committee members, and 5 local project staff. Using semi-structured interview questions, in a 90-minute session, each focus group discussed changes in family planning practices, community cohesion, and barriers to family planning. The discussion was tape-recorded and transcribed, and the transcripts were divided into categories, leading to conclusions about common themes.
Results:
Both women and men mentioned awareness of the importance of family planning and acceptance of long-acting family-planning as major changes resulting from the project. Community leaders agreed that involvement of males and religious leaders was a successful strategy to mobilize community people, but further encouragement was still needed. Both community members and leaders addressed the fact that income generation and community development activities increased their community cohesion, and that encouraged community participation in family-planning practices. Community committee members and local project staff actively played roles in the entire process of project, established strong partnerships with researchers and community, and strengthened their capacity and capacity of those in the community for family planning. Barriers to family planning perceived by the participants included lack of competence for family planning among community health workers and insufficient male involvement in family planning decision-making.
Conclusion:
CBPR benefited all those involved in the research process; it was found to be a successful approach for facilitating community involvement. The information gained from different stakeholders will be used to plan further family-planning activities for sustainable effects.
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