The Attitude of Men Towards Family Planning and Implication for Their Involvement in the Oghara-Efe Community
Chapter One
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The objectives of the study are;
- To assess the level of knowledge of men on as a family planning method
- To determine the attitude of men towards family planning in Oghara-efe community
- To determine factors influencing men attitude towards family planning in Oghara-efe community
- To ascertain the relationship between attitude of men towards family planning and implication for their involvement.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
INTRODUCTION
Family planning is a deliberate effort by couples to regulate the number of children and spacing of births. It aims at improving family life at the micro level and contributing to sustainable development at the macro level. This is through fertility decline among other mechanisms. However, variables such as education, religion, socio – economic as well as cultural factors affect the effectiveness of family planning programmes. One factor that deserves attention is the involvement of males in family planning. Male involvement in family planning means more than increasing the number of men using condoms and having vasectomies; it also includes the number of men who encourage and support their partners in contraception and encourage peers to use family planning and who influence the policy environment to be more conducive to developing male related programmes. In this context, male involvement should be understood in a much broader sense than male contraception, and should refer to all organizational activities aimed at men as a discrete group, which has the effect of increasing the acceptability and prevalence of family planning practice of either sex (Toure, 1996). Conducting a social research such as this one requires that one reads through works done by authorities, relevant documents and publications to gain more insight into the problem under study since works done previously might shed more light on the subject. Thus, in the ongoing study, literature is reviewed on various issues relating to the topic. These include the state of family planning across the globe. Also reviewed are the factors that were responsible for male involvement, knowledge, attitudes, perceptions and practice of family planning, partner support and achievements so far and the way forward in increasing male participation There has been considerable initiative in various forms to involve males in family planning programmes in Africa. Programmes to encourage men’s involvement in family planning are now gradually gaining prominence due to interventions to increase knowledge and interest of men, such as information, education, and communication campaigns using the mass media, interventions to increase access and use of family planning services by men such as community based distribution condom sales and promoting work place programs, and a few male clinic and vasectomy services. Some of the field experiences have shown that well – targeted focused male involvement programmes can have an impact on both male and female behaviours related to reproductive health. There have been several decades of neglect of male role in family planning dating back to the 1960s with the development of modern contraceptive methods for women. One of the reasons why family planning programmes in the past focused on women instead of men was the assumption by many providers that women have the greatest stake and interest in protecting their own reproductive health (Toure, 1996). But growing numbers of family planning research are facing challenges on the isolated focus on the woman and are focusing on the influence of her male partner in protecting women reproductive health. This is especially true in sub Saharan Africa where men influence decision making in many ways (Ezeh, 1992; 1997; Marrida and Ulla, 2004). Recently, family planning programmes and providers have seen that involving men in addition to women in family planning results in an improved programme effectiveness. The 1994 International Conference on Population and Development also encouraged family planning programmes and providers to consider both men and women jointly. This new interest in men is based on the consideration that although most reproductive health burdens are borne by the women, the majority of the decisions that affect both women and men reproductive health are made by men or by men and women jointly. And also if men are involved they may be a potential partner as well as advocates for good reproductive health rather than bystanders, barriers, or adversaries (Toure, 1996; Terefe and Larson, 1993). In some regions, the achieved impact of family planning is attributed to both male and female factors. For example,a study in Tanzania showed that the fertility decline in the Pare community was attributed to the high education of the man and the wife. The effect of wife’s education was stronger. The same study showed that the younger the husband and the higher the educational levels of both husband and wife, the more positive the determinants for fertility regulation (Marrida and Ulla, 2004). In September 1987, the Health Education Division of Ghana’s Ministry of Health (MOH / HED) began a systematic family planning IEC project, with funding from USAID and technical assistance from John Hopkins University. Drama, a theme song, community audiovisual material, and community activities formed part of the first phase. The second phase of the project highlighted male involvement in family planning. The goals of the first phase of the project were to increase knowledge of and improve attitude towards, family planning and promote contraceptive use among men and women of reproductive age, enhance family planning, counselling skills among MOH service providers, and strengthen the MOH’s ability to develop, implement, monitor, and evaluate communication programs on health. November 1991 study of the project found that almost all males surveyed in six regions had seen or heard of at least one IEC family planning campaign medium.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to attitude of men towards family planning and implication for their involvement in Oghara-efe Community
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
(i)Primary source and
(ii)Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
Population of the study
Population of a study is a group of persons or aggregate items, things the researcher is interested in getting information attitude of men towards family planning and implication for their involvement in Oghara-efe Community. 200 residents in Ohara-efe Community Ethipe west local government of Delta state was selected randomly by the researcher as the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION ANALYSIS INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
Efforts will be made at this stage to present, analyze and interpret the data collected during the field survey. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to ascertain that the objective of this study was attitude of men towards family planning and implication for their involvement in Oghara-efe community. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in addressing the challenges of attitude of men towards family planning and implication for their involvement
Summary
This study was on attitude of men towards family planning and implication for their involvement in Oghara-efe community. Four objectives were raised which included: To assess the level of knowledge of men on as a family planning method, to determine the attitude of men towards family planning in Oghara-efe community, to determine factors influencing men attitude towards family planning in Oghara-efe community, to ascertain the relationship between attitude of men towards family planning and implication for their involvement. In line with these objectives, two research hypotheses were formulated and two null hypotheses were posited. The total population for the study is 200 residents of Oghara-efe community in Ethiope west local government of Delta state. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made elderly men, elderly women, youths and family heads were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies
Conclusion
Family planning programme planners have not actively developed programmes that would require the involvement of men in family planning. One main family planning method for men that is widely accepted is the use of the condom. However, males can prevent unwanted and unplanned for pregnancies if they employ Vasectomy. The study found that:
Male Involvement
The physical involvement of the male partners is not felt although they provide their support both financially and serves as reminders of their wives. Also the insistence on the presence and consent of the male partners at least for the first visit to the health center by service providers sometimes restricts the use of the service since most of the male partners seem to show no interest in the use of contraceptives
Spousal Communication
Spousal communication is a key factor that helps to increase the possibility of family planning and can have a bearing on the type of contraceptive that a person uses. When spouses communicate about the use of family planning methods it helps to draw the attention and participation of the male partners.
Educational level
The educational level of spouses also affects the decision to engage in family planning. Those who have a high level of education are more comfortable with family planning methods and are likely to adopt the use of contraceptives compared to those who do not have a high level of education.
Recommendation
Based on the findings of the study the following recommendations are made
- Since all respondents in this study were females, it would be insightful for future studies to capture male opinions in order to establish the extent of support and usage of contraceptives among that population.
- Also, it would be insightful for future studies to investigate the level of trust in family planning procedures from both the perspective of the service providers and the extended families of users.
- Futures studies can also investigate why some women are still not engaged in family planning process after its long years of introduction.
- There is the need for inter-sectoral collaboration to empower women so that to a large extent they can take control over their lives in terms of the use of the FP methods. This is necessary because it appears that their overdependence on the male counterparts and closed relative economically has over the years limited them from using family planning methods.
- In addition, the service providers should embark on a sensitization programme to educate people on the side effects of these contraceptives and how the side effects can be handled to prevent any damage to the patient.
REFERENCES
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- Addai, I. (1999). Does Religion Matter in Contraceptive Use among Ghanaian Women? Review of Religious Research, 40 (3): 259-277.
- Addai, I. (1999). Ethnicity and contraceptive use in sub-Saharan Africa: The case of Ghana. Journal of Biosocial Science 31(1):105-120.
- Adetunji, J. (2000). Condom Use in Marital and Non-marital Relationships in Zimbabwe. International Family Planning Perspectives, 26(4):196–200.
- AkinrinolaB, and Sasheela S. (1998). Couples Fertility and contraception Decision Making in Developing Countries: Hearing the Man’s Voice. International Family Planning Prespective, 24(1):15-24.
- Ananat, E.O. and Hungerman, D.M. (2012). The power of the pill for the next generation: oral contraception’s effects on fertility, abortion, and maternal and child characteristics. Review Economic Statistics, 94:37-51.