Program Strategies

Guided by the goals of expanding access to services, improving provider performance, and strengthening the environment for reproductive health and family planning (RH/FP) service delivery, ACQUIRE Project priorities include:

Increasing access to and use of long-acting and permanent methods of contraception (LAPMs) and facility-based FP services-with a focus on underutilized methods, in particular the IUD and vasectomy

Providing programming guidance and assistance to missions, Ministries of Health, and others on how to improve access to LAPMs
Participating in USAID's Repositioning Family Planning Initiative, through the preparation of case studies on countries in Africa where FP use has increased successfully and those where its use has plateaued
Revitalizing the use of IUDs: helping to overcome systems challenges, provider biases, and client misunderstandings about the IUD and developing strategies to assist in increasing its availability and use

Integrating FP services with HIV, postabortion care, and maternity services

Providing programming guidance and assistance to missions, Ministries of Health, and others on integrating FP with other health services
Assisting programs with postabortion care services to improve access to and availability of FP for those clients who wish to use it
Exploring how best to ensure that FP is made available to those receiving HIV services, in particular exploring the FP needs of HIV-positive women who are receiving antiretroviral treatment
Integrating FP services into postpartum programs

Improving client-provider interaction

Exploring client perspectives on vasectomy, IUDs, and dual protection, as well as considering the fertility desires of HIV-positive women and men to provide guidance to programs and providers on how best to meet their needs
Sensitizing health providers on how best to serve the needs of young married couples and men

Using outreach and promotion to mobilize linkages between clinics and communities

Developing synergistic communications and community mobilization campaigns to increase awareness of services and methods-e.g., vasectomy, IUDs
Exploring community perspectives on how to improve access to services for women who experience complications in pregnancy

Developing the institutional capacity of service programs, using a blend of practical tools and approaches that together address the needs of clients, providers, and systems

Implementing training programs using the most up-to-date information on methods and services
Developing a "district approach" to strengthen training and supervision of providers
Blending performance improvement, quality improvement, and participatory approaches to strengthen management of services and provider performance

Working to scale up and sustain innovative approaches to improve access to, quality of, and utilization of RH/FP services

Evaluating current health systems and needs and adapting successful program models and best practices from one setting to another
Collaborating with field programs to scale up proven strategies
Supporting approaches that make more service options available to more people at the lowest level in the health care system that can ensure safety and quality

Implementing a knowledge-to-practice agenda designed to promote best practices and provide guidance for maximizing program performance

Advancing lessons learned and knowledge gained for improved project performance and results
Promoting knowledge gained and models for use both within and beyond the ACQUIRE Project
Promote a knowledge-sharing culture with our colleagues in the broader RH field

Promoting and advocating policies that support high-quality, integrated RH/FP services

Fostering a supportive policy environment for expanded access

Photo credit: C. Svingen/EngenderHealth

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