How to Assess Family Planning Clinics

The demand for voluntary family planning, a recognized human right, is global and rapidly growing. UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, estimates that 200 million women, mostly in the developing world, want but lack access to modern, effective family planning methods. For people of all nations, the quality of family planning care is as critical as access. As you assess family planning clinics, keep in mind UNFPA's assertion that "quality of care is a human rights issue."

Instructions

• 1

  Familiarize yourself with international human rights and best clinical practice standards for family planning services. UNFPA recognizes such client rights as nondiscrimination, confidentiality, "a choice of contraceptive methods, accurate and complete information, technically competent care, good interaction with providers," and "access and continuity of care and supplies." UNFPA also "does not support or promote abortion as a method of family planning." The United States Agency for International Development, or USAID, another major worldwide family planning provider, takes a similar human rights stance. The World Health Organization publishes a series of useful clinical manuals and tools that guide providers on evidence-based family planning care.

• 2

  Learn about laws, regulations and accrediting standards pertaining to family planning clinics in your country and local area. If necessary, consult with a lawyer, the relevant accrediting body, and/or your Ministry of Health or equivalent government agency.

• 3

  Prepare yourself to follow international, national and local laws, policies and standards for research with human participants and for health and social service program evaluation. Two possibly helpful documents are the American Evaluation Association's "Guiding Principles for Evaluators" and WHO's "Ethical Standards and Procedures for Research with Human Beings."

• 4

  Choose and apply the methods that best fit the purposes and contexts of your assessment. Possible methods include direct observation of provider-client encounters, client satisfaction surveys, sampling of written medical records, and/or analysis of statistics about clients served and services provided. If you wish to learn more about assessment methods, USAID's Global Health eLearning Center offers free, self-paced courses, such as "Monitoring and Evaluation Fundamentals" and "Family Planning Programming -- Elements of Success."