Elements of Family Planning Success

The Elements of Family Planning Success concept is the result of a collaboration among hundreds of family planning programme professionals from around the world. Instead of reviewing existing research and coming to conclusions about what makes a family programme successful, organisers determined that it would be best to start by creating a community of family planning programmers to come together and share ideas and opinions about what they feel makes a programme work. Through an online survey held in December 2007, 10 "elements" of family planning success were chosen by consensus through a process in which 445 participants from 98 countries participated. These elements include: well-trained staff, strong leadership, effective communication strategies, supportive government policies, services for the economically poor, monitoring and evaluation, strong logistics system, client-centred care, integrated services, and mix of service delivery sites.

Challenges, success stories, and resources regarding the 10 elements were then shared in a 2-week online forum that took place on the Implementing Best Practices (IBP) Knowledge Gateway through a collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO). Approximately 280 health care professionals in 63 countries participated, by sharing their ideas and experiences each day in response to questions about each of the 10 elements. Their insights fed into the creation of an interactive website - one that is not just meant to be a static place where people can go to find information; rather, it is meant to be a cyber gathering place that shifts and grows as participants engage in different ways.

Specifically, launched in April 2008, the site centres around sharing information and resources about each element (e.g., through recommended resources selected by website "members"' ratings, and case studies illustrating each element from around the world). Members may read what experts have to say by listening to and/or downloading interviews from the site, and then engage in discussion with each other through e-forums (members are invited to post their own forum topic). Each member has a personal blog on the site, and may read and comment on the blogs of their fellow family planning practitioners. Similarly, the "My Home" function enables members to create their own personalised page, and to search for/connect with like-minded people working in this field.

The project will culminate in a Population Reports issue (publication date: September 2008) on the 10 elements. It will combine members' experiences and lessons learned with the evidence-based information and research they have submitted and/or recommended on the website. (Print distribution of this issue will be designed to reach those who have limited internet access). A related e-learning course housed on the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Global Health E-Learning Center platform is another strategy for communicating the insights of the participants in the Elements of Family Planning Success initiative to a broader audience.

Family Planning.