Factors influencing male involvement in family planning initiatives in Kakamega east sub county , Kakamega county.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate factors influencing male involvement in family planning initiatives in Kakamega East Sub County, Kakamega County. The specific objectives of the study included; establishing the extent to which social factors influence male involvement in family planning initiatives in Kakamega East Sub County; determining the extent to which strategic factors influence male involvement in family planning initiatives in Kakamega East Sub County, assessing the extent to which economic factors influence male involvement in family planning initiatives in Kakamega East Sub County and examining the extent to which cultural factors influence male involvement in family planning initiatives in Kakamega East Sub County. Literature giving the global, regional and local perspectives on the study objectives was extensively reviewed by the researcher to give a fuller understanding of the issues as well as the present situation on the subject matter of the study for comparison purposes. The study was premised on the social cognitive theory and adopted descriptive survey design to target men aged 18-55 years spread across the study area. Simple-random sampling technique was used to sample 395 male household heads from a population of 29, 128 households to participate in the study. Data for the study was collected through questionnaires and was organized and presented using frequency tables. Validity for the tools was achieved by subjecting the tools to the review of university supervisors and peers. The researcher was assisted by trained research assistants in administering the questionnaires. The study found out that social factors such as religion, knowledge on FP, gender roles and spousal communication influenced male involvement in family planning. From the study 66.7% of the respondents were of the opinion that men should be involved in family planning with 69.7% indicating that their religion was against the practice of family planning. Over sixty six percent (66.1%) of the respondents approved of family planning as personal decision. The study also found that 50.7% of the respondents had never been involved in any project design activities, thus were locked out from involvement. In addition FP methods are some of the strategic factors that influence male involvement in family planning with 83.9% saying they would not go for vasectomy and that they were limited to only male condom. The study also established that economic factors such as income and unmet need for FP also influenced male involvement in FP. The study also found that fertility preferences and perception are some of the cultural factors that influence male involvement in family planning. For instance, the study found that 72.2% of the respondents preferred more than 3 children, thus have lower demand for FP for limiting as well as spacing. The study therefore recommended that projects that focus on public awareness and service provision on FP be initiated by different stakeholders to address the existing knowledge and service delivery

gaps. Further, the study recommended that project designers should involvement in the life cycle of FP projects to achieve sustainable results. The study suggested that a similar study be conducted in other parts of the county to enable a formulation of male involvement in FP policy and program in the county