| dc.description.abstract | Traditionally, family planning programmes have always focused on women since they are the sole
child bearers, to the disregard of men. Despite this, men are still the heads of the households and the
principal decision makers at this level. There is very limited research which has been conducted to
explore the role men play in family planning and fertility regulation in Kenya. This study therefore
examined the role men play in family planning decision making, specifically in the consumption of
male methods, in Vihiga County.
Quantitative data were obtained from a randomly selected sample of 150 men who had regular
sexual partners (married or cohabiting) aged between 18 and 49 years. The areas of focus were on
their sources of information, attitudes towards family planning, participation in decision making and
socio-cultural factors that influenced their decisions to use specific male methods as their preferred
choice. Additional qualitative data was further obtained through focus group discussions and key
informant interviews.
The study found that generally the participation of men in decision making on methods to use was
quite low. It was found that about 43% of men left decision making to women alone while an even
lower percentage (12%) supported joint efforts in deciding on which methods to use as a couple. The
findings showed that some of the most commonly known methods were the male condom (100%)
and the coil/IUD (81%), while only 15% reported to know about vasectomy. This information was
mostly derived from mass media (43%) but in most cases the information was inadequate and
inaccurate and this resulted in 43% of men leaving decision making to women only. Only 43% of
men reported to have ever discussed family planning with their spouses which contributed to the low
level of men participating in decision making on methods to use. It was also found that only 15% of
men stated that it was their responsibility to use family planning methods within their marriages
compared to 55% who said that it was the responsibility of the woman. Decision making on method
among men was found to be influenced by various socio-cultural factors such as health of the wife
and children (40%), social acceptance of family planning methods and fear of social stigma (50%),
religious factors (22%) as well as sex of the children born into the family (24%). However, findings
also revealed that 85% of men were willing to be more involved in family planning programmes.
The study concluded that the level of male participation in making decisions about which methods to
use was quite low in Vihiga County. To enhance the level of decision making, there is need to: (i)
design more holistic family planning programs to include both men and women; (ii) include both
men and women in family planning discussions at health centers; (iii) establish male-only family
planning clinics to encourage men to seek family planning services (iv) to ensure the dissemination
of accurate family planning information through various forms of mass, social and print media to
enhance use of male methods | en_US |
