Male Involvement In Family Planning: Perspective Of Men In The Bawku West District

Abstract

Background: An efficient way of managing fertility is through the practice of family planning. Low fertility results in slower population growth. Family planning has long been recognized as an efficient intervention in public health, extremely cost-effective in reducing the burden of disease on maternal and child health. Male involvement in family planning is not a new discovery to the field of public health. Even though contraceptive prevalence rate is high, 32% of women in the district wants to take up more methods. The women in Bawku West District are unable to assess family planning because male partners are not involved. This is a major public health concern and needs further investigation. Methods: The study was a qualitative study using a phenomenology approach. Data were collected using focus group discussion and in-depth interviews. The study participant was made up of married and cohabiting men aged 18 to 59 years living in the Bawku West District. Purposive sampling technique was employed for the selection of participants. Two sub districts were chosen (1 urban and 1 rural, for fair distribution of participants) and the nature of the phenomenon examined among them. Interviews were audio-recorded, and the tape were transcribed verbatim and the resulting texts analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Out of the 51 men that took part in the study, majority were young men between the ages of 18 to 32 years. Findings from the study revealed that health service factors such as accessible, distance to health facility and cost are major factors that deter men from participating in family planning services The study also revealed that though men were more knowledgeable about family planning and its methods did not reflect in their participation in family planning services in the district. Conclusion: Though men in the Bawku West district had appreciable knowledge on family planning, they are unwilling to practice it because of sociocultural, individual characteristics and health service factors. The study recommends that there should be variety of methods for men to choose from.