Adapting an Employer-Based Approach to Support Increased Access to and Use of LA/PMs

Brief 9, January 2013    

The RESPOND Project implemented an employer-based approach in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India, that sought to increase workers' awareness of and utilization of family planning (FP), particularly their use of long-acting and permanent methods of contraception (LA/PMs). This approach engaged company managers to: obtain support their active support, identify existing private-sector services as referral sites for employees interested in FP, increase access to and support for FP through employers, and strengthen knowledge about FP services among employees.

Ten companies representing a variety of sectors, from waste management to manufacturing to beverage bottling, participated in the project, implemented from January 2011 to June 2012. The employers agreed to support the intervention by providing a venue for project activities and by allowing employees to attend activities during normal working hours. Key features of the RESPOND interventions were to:

• Develop and distribute print materials, including posters, brochures, and self-standing poster displays that provided employees with FP information, with a focus on LA/PMs
• Orient 27 health coordinators from the participating businesses on FP, particularly LA/PMs, and on interpersonal communication skills for discussing FP use with interested employees 
• Implement 61 health talks, which included an orientation to FP and an in-depth discussion of LA/PMs
• Staff health desks placed in a well-trafficked area of the company with a RESPOND program officer or a trained counselor, distributing materials and answering questions about FP
• Identify referral sites that provide high-quality FP services, including LA/PMs
• Provide referrals to interested clients though a phone hotline and project staff

Based on an evaluation and experience, the employer-based approach proved very successful at helping employers to reach their employees with information about LA/PMs. Employers were generally supportive of the initiative and allowed on-site access to employees during working hours-although smaller companies had more difficulty in allowing multiple health talks during working hours. The project's key interventions were successful in reaching their intended target audience-and in influencing an increase in LA/PM use. Client testimonies emphasized that the workplace is a good setting for reaching men with information about family planning and that as a result husbands initiated discussions about family planning after attending a health talk. These results demonstrate the strong potential of workplace initiatives for increasing information about and use of LA/PMs. Workplaces provide an opportunity to communicate with a concentrated group of people who live and work in relative proximity and share a common subculture.

We invite you to download the PDF (3.5MB).