Abstract
BackgroundIn low-and-middle income countries (LMICs) less attention is paid to men’s involvement in Family Planning (FP) programs where public health officials have advocated the involvement of men as a strategy for addressing the dismal performance of FP programs. The study assessed the involvement of men in FP use and the factors which promote or hinder the uptake of FP services among partners in a rural setting of northern Ghana.MethodsA cross-sectional descriptive study was used to collect data from 200 respondents. Study respondents were selected through random cluster sampling.ResultsThe findings showed that male partners’ knowledge (95.5%) and approval (72.8%) of FP services were high. About 48% of men were involved in FP service utilization. Having living children (aOR; 1.71(1.27, 2.15)) and being knowledgeable (aOR; 6.14(1.38, 10.90)) about FP were positively associated men’s involvement in FP service utilization. The findings also indicated that men had a higher propensity (X2 = 4.5534, p = 0.033) of supporting a FP method use. Women who reported that their spouse supported FP method use were more likely to use a contraceptive method (X2 = 9.5223, P = 0.002) if their spouse supported FP method use (X2 = 9.5223, P = 0.002) and if their partners had some education (X2 = 14.1133, P = 0.000). Reasons for low contraceptive use were health risks, side effects, and socio-cultural norms.ConclusionFamily planning programs need to include men at all levels of health promotion and education of FP programs to help reduce misconceptions about contraceptive methods to increase acceptance and use among partners in rural settings of Ghana.
Highlights
In low-and-middle income countries (LMICs) less attention is paid to men’s involvement in Family Planning (FP) programs where public health officials have advocated the involvement of men as a strategy for addressing the dismal performance of FP programs
Men are recognized to be responsible for the large proportion of reproductive ill-health suffered by their partners’ use of FP methods [8]
Contraceptive methods and services are frequently geared towards women, men are often the primary decision-makers on family size and their partners’ use of FP methods [9]
Summary
In low-and-middle income countries (LMICs) less attention is paid to men’s involvement in Family Planning (FP) programs where public health officials have advocated the involvement of men as a strategy for addressing the dismal performance of FP programs. The study assessed the involvement of men in FP use and the factors which promote or hinder the uptake of FP services among partners in a rural setting of northern Ghana. Men are recognized to be responsible for the large proportion of reproductive ill-health suffered by their partners’ use of FP methods [8]. Contraceptive methods and services are frequently geared towards women, men are often the primary decision-makers on family size and their partners’ use of FP methods [9]. It is well documented that men’s general knowledge and attitude about the ideal family size, gender preference of children, ideal spacing between childbirths, and contraceptive methods use greatly influence women’s preferences and opinions [8, 10, 11]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
