Informing Women about Available Services and Improves Health Outcomes
Highlights
- In 2005, physicians in Jordan detected only 30 percent of breast cancer at an early stage, among other health care challenges for women.
- Abt, as the implementer or the Private Sector Project for Women's Health, used a community outreach approach to educate low-income women to trigger demand for women’s health services.
- A 2010 assessment found improved private physicians’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices for oral contraceptives. The training had a significant impact on health outcomes: The percentage of early-stage breast cancer detection, for example, rose to 59%
In 2005, good health care was tough for Jordanian women to find. Doctors detected only 30 percent of breast cancer in the early stages. A third of women 15-49 who had ever been married said their partners had hit, slapped, kicked, or otherwise physically abused them, but they had no place to go for referral and treatment. Women knew little about family planning and reproductive health. Those who did had little access to quality services because the private health sector lacked training and programs to address these needs.
Abt, as the implementer or the Private Sector Project for Women's Health, used a community outreach approach to educate low-income women to trigger demand for women’s health services. We formulated the Enhancing Quality in Private Providers approach to improve private-sector service quality. The team launched a movement to promote early breast-cancer detection. We teamed with private partners to improve detection, treatment, and care for female survivors of domestic violence. The project also provided clinical training in clinical breast examinations, gynecological ultrasound, and IUD insertion.
The team visits more than 20,000 women a month and follows them for at least 12 months, with up to three additional counseling visits. The team gave more than 200,000 women information on family planning, early detection of breast and cervical cancer, prenatal and postnatal health, child nutrition, and child development. The project’s community outreach contacted 1,492,000 women age 15-60 for family planning and breast cancer referrals and vouchers. We organized a private physician network and built its capacity to provide family planning and cancer-detection services to needy women. A 2010 assessment found improved private physicians’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices for oral contraceptives. The training had a significant impact on health outcomes. The percentage of early-stage breast cancer detection, for example, rose to 59 percent from 30 percent in four years.