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Counseling Women and Couples on Family Planning: A Randomized Study in Jordan
Author(s) -
ElKhoury Marianne,
Thornton Rebecca,
Chatterji Minki,
Kamhawi Sarah,
Sloane Phoebe,
Halassa Mays
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
studies in family planning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.529
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1728-4465
pISSN - 0039-3665
DOI - 10.1111/sifp.69
Subject(s) - family planning , randomized controlled trial , medicine , family therapy , family medicine , intervention (counseling) , psychology , clinical psychology , population , nursing , psychiatry , research methodology , environmental health , surgery
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.