A Cluster-RCT to Increase the Uptake of LARCs Among Adolescent Females and Young Women in Cameroon.

A Cluster-randomized Controlled Trial to Increase the Uptake of Long-acting Reversible Contraceptives Among Adolescent Females and Young Women in Cameroon

The study investigators propose to test various supply-side approaches to increase the numbers of both SARCs (short-acting reversible contraceptives, i.e. the pill and injectable) and especially LARCs (long-acting reversible contraceptives, i.e. the IUD and implant) administered by health facilities to reproductive-age females in Cameroon, particularly adolescents who may be unmarried and/or nulliparous. The study investigators will do this via interventions at primary health facilities, which include training of providers on family planning; the introduction of a tablet-based decision support tool for counseling women on family planning; and increased subsidies for LARCs within the performance-based financing (PBF) system. This approach is expected to benefit the population directly by decreasing maternal mortality and undesired pregnancies and indirectly by reducing side effects that arise due to current one-size-fits-all FP (family planning) counseling; improving the health of children due to improved birth spacing; and increasing human capital accumulation among children and young (often school-age) potential mothers.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Facilities in the East Region of Cameroon providing family planning services under the performance-based financing (PBF) system.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Facilities that have not administered any modern contraceptive methods in the past quarter