Gender in family planning communication: Preliminary results from an intervention study in Tanzania

It is often hypothesized that transforming gender norms will lead to desired public health and social outcomes for both men and women. Documented attempts to accomplish this have been small, and feature interventions too expensive to scale up on a national level, raising questions about the feasibility for improving public health and family planning in the developing world. Therefore, there is a need to test an affordable intervention with the potential of making a public health impact. A study to test the effectiveness of radio programming addressing gender norms in support of a community based distribution of contraceptives program is underway in Tanzania. The study uses a Latin Square design with pre- post- and midline surveys and service statistics. Community based distributors were trained to address gender norms that constrain the use of contraceptives in talking with clients in the “gender sites”. The effects of the gender sensitive family planning communication strategy will be compared with that of the generic strategy. This paper will present preliminary findings on the effects of the two strategies on knowledge, attitudes, and distribution of contraceptives and other products, as well as gender-equitable attitudes and behaviors among men and women.