Faith Leaders Improve Healthy Timing and Spacing of Pregnancy: Results of Operations Research on the Channels of Hope Methodology in Kenya and Ghana

BACKGROUND: Family planning averts unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, and maternal deaths, while improving child health and socio-economic progress, but an estimated 218 million women and girls in low- and middle-income countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, have an unmet need for modern family planning. Faith leaders can impact the demand and uptake of family planning. However, there is limited understanding of the mechanisms for effective family planning advocacy by faith leaders. Channels of Hope (CoH) is World Vision’s process that engages faith leaders and faith communities to address health issues. OBJECTIVES: To determine the impact of CoH on promoting healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies and family planning (HTSP/FP) by mothers of children under two years old in select parts of Kenya and Ghana. To also determine faith leaders’ attitudes, perceptions, and potential roles in influencing HTSP/FP after exposure to CoH. METHODS: A mixed methods operations research comprising quantitative (quasi-experimental design with surveys of 4,372 mothers of children under two years old) and qualitative arms (in-depth interviews of 17 faith leaders and their seven spouses) was implemented. FINDINGS: Taking both countries together, male sterilization, female condom, and LAM were the only FP methods that did not show increases from baseline to endline. Methods with the highest knowledge increases between intervention areas and control areas were implants, injectables and pills, with 18.4, 12.1 and 11.2 percentage point increases, respectively. The faith leaders in both countries reported that their views on healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies changed due to the Channels of Hope workshops. CONCLUSION: The HTSP/FP model has potential for positive health and social transformation that is built on the trust of faith leaders. Ghana and Kenya provide great examples of possible scenarios in order to help prepare implementers to scale the learnings of this operations research across sub-Saharan Africa.