Background/Objectives
The Society for Family Health, through the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria (ANRiN) Project, has been delivering dual services – counseling and family planning - to married adolescents through outreaches and fixed posts across 11 Local Government Areas of Kaduna State.
This approach has prompted this study on the influence of counseling on the acceptance of family planning services among married adolescent girls in Kaduna State by answering the following questions: (a) does counseling influence the acceptance of family planning methods among married adolescents? (b) how different is the acceptance rate between outreach and fixed post approaches? (c) does the acceptance rate differ across method types?
Materials and Methods
This study leveraged client data generated by the ANRiN Project between July 2021 and February 2022. A dynamic Panel Generalized Methods of Movement (GMM) model was used to answer the first research question while t-test was used to answer the second and third research questions.
Results
Objective 1 - The study found that counseling has a positive influence on the acceptance of modern contraceptives among married adolescent girls in Kaduna State.
Objective 2 – The study found no significant difference in the acceptance rate between outreach and fixed post with t-statistic of -1.43 and a probability value of 0.1543.
Objective 3 – The study found a statistically significant difference between short-term and long-term methods, with a t-statistic of -16.8 and a probability value of 0.0000
Conclusions
The study concludes that counseling can greatly influence FP service uptake. Therefore, future FP interventions should be tailored with a counseling component to boost acceptance. Although outreach or fixed post-counseling does not change the acceptance rate, the difference in methods matters. Lastly, further studies should be conducted to investigate clients' preferences for one method over another.
Corresponding Author: Simon Orjime; +234(0)8167006464; sorjime@sfhnigeria.org, sorjime@gmail.com
