Tékponon Jikuagou Pilot Results

Tékponon Jikuagou aimed to develop and test a scalable package of social network activities to engage men and women in discussion and reflection about unmet need for family planning.

The package of activities works with and through influential and connected network actors who may be more effective in diffusing new ideas and mobilizing public dialogue than formal leaders or health workers alone. The intervention aims to increase acceptability of discussions concerning family size and family planning use. It also aims to create an enabling environment for family planning use by increasing the perception that social network members approve of family planning use.

This brief presents results of a cross-sectional survey conducted with women (1,080) and men (1,080) in union interviewed prior to and 18 months after the pilot intervention began. Statistical tests – means testing and odds ratios from logistics regressions – determined whether the changes were statistically significant after controlling for potentially confounding factors including age, education, religion, number of children, and number of co-wives.

The pilot findings demonstrate that a social network package with multiple, interlinked components addresses the challenge of effectively reaching both women and men.

Source: Institute for Reproductive Health, Georgetown

Date of Publication: March 25, 2019