Effectiveness of University – Community Partnership in Increasing Family Planning Use in Rural Kenya: A Case of Nyakach District in Western Kenya

Introduction

Family planning (FP) is the right of individuals to receive adequate information about method of FP of their choice to freely determine number and spacing of children (WHO, 2007). Population growth has outstripped resource growth in Kenya, with population of 40 million, growth rate of 2.6%, total fertility rate of 4.6% per woman, FP prevalence of 46% and unmet need of 26% (KDHS 2008). FP is key in managing population growth.

FP use benefits mother, baby, family and community. A mother spacing pregnancies has time to regain strength for next child, has less chance of dying of pregnancy related causes. Spacing increases child survival and healthier life. To community it reduces stress of access to resource.

This paper demonstrates effectiveness of University-community partnership in enhancing utilization of FP services, by addressing barriers to access. Great Lakes University of Kisumu places students and lecturers in communities to organize and build their capacity for  participation in service delivery and utilization. Such communities are able to influence availability of quality services through health committees and community health workers (CHW). With support of students and lecturers, CHWs gather data which are analyzed and used for dialogue, planning and action, thus influencing quality of services.

We assessed the influence of the partnership on uptake of FP services through a cross-sectional household survey to measure and compare FP utilization in partnership and non-partnership sites.

Results

Knowledge of modern methods of FP was significantly higher in partnership sites (89% vs 81%) p<0.05, particularly regarding IUCD and Norplant. There was higher rate of use in partner communities. Education was a key factor on knowledge of FP methods, only half of women with no education knew compared to 85% of those with education.

University-Community partnership increased uptake of FP, through dialogue, focusing on vulnerable groups, promoting equity in access.