Qualitative Analysis of Men's Involvement in Family Planning in The Philippines: An Ecological Assessment.

While family planning (FP) programs have the capacity to empower women, support gender equality, and reduce poverty, male involvement is an influential factor for the uptake of FP that has been lacking. In the past decade, there have been more progressive FP policies and growing attention on male involvement in FP in the Philippines, providing an opportunity to develop evidence-based interventions to better integrate men into FP services by approaching care delivery from a family-focused perspective. This paper sought to understand the current role of men in FP services and explore how to strengthen facilitators and overcome barriers to optimize men's involvement in FP in the Philippines. Using the Ecological Model for Health Promotion, this qualitative study used convenience sampling to collect data through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions at all levels of the ecosystem. All data were collected in the Albay area, with the exception of some policy data collected in Manila. Qualitative analysis was guided by content analysis. The final sample included 66 participants across the ecosystem. Two primary themes emerged: (1) Resources and health care systems structure impact on male involvement in FP and (2) Education and training that support male involvement in FP. The findings of our qualitative study suggest that while men in the Philippines and their ecosystems support men's FP involvement, the inconsistent health care systems and protocols are not yet reaching men with information and education they need to help them make informed FP decisions with their female partners.

Utilization of adolescent health services during the COVID-19 pandemic: evidence on impact and adaptations from a rapid assessment survey in the Philippines.

BACKGROUND: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many challenges in adolescent health have been exacerbated including increased cases of early marriages, domestic violence, higher rates of anxiety and depression, and reduced access to sexual and reproductive health services for adolescents. This study examines the impacts of the pandemic on adolescent health services utilization and potential adaptations in the Philippines. METHODS: The data used in this study was from a rapid telephone assessment survey of 148 adolescent-friendly health facilities (rural health units) in the Philippines. We employed a mixed-methods research approach comprising both quantitative and qualitative analyses in three phases. First, we conducted a descriptive analysis of the status of adolescent healthcare access and utilization during COVID-19. Next, we examined using multivariate ordered logistic regressions how staff availability and adolescent health (AH) service provision modalities influenced AH service utilization in terms of the average number of adolescents served per week during compared to before the pandemic. We also conducted a complementing qualitative analysis of the challenges and corresponding adaptive solutions to ensuring continuity of AH services in facilities. RESULTS: We find that two months into the pandemic, 79% of adolescent-friendly trained staff were reporting for duty and 64% of facilities reported no staff disruptions. However, only 13% of facilities were serving the same number of adolescents or greater than before COVID-19. The use of more modalities for AH service provision (including telehealth) by facilities was significantly associated with increased likelihood to report serving the same number of adolescent or greater than before COVID-19 compared to those who used only one modality. CONCLUSION: Investments in multiple modalities of care provision, such as telehealth could improve AH services utilization and help sustain connection with adolescents during shocks, including future outbreaks or other stressors that limit physical access to health facilities.