Abstract

Background: Family planning (FP) is now acknowledged as one of the most successful development interventions, with potential benefits on maternal and child health (MCH) outcomes, educational advances, and economic development. Objectives: The aim of the study was to assess the performance of health-care providers during FP counseling sessions and assess clients’ satisfaction with these sessions at the studied primary health-care facilities.
Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study was conducted in family health facilities in Sadat city, Egypt, including all FP services providers in the studied family health facilities using a balanced counseling strategy (BCS) checklist and self-reported questionnaire to assess the qualification of providers in providing FP counseling and the availability of services and resources. The study included also 200 clients that were randomly selected from attendants to the studied facilities for FP services to assess their satisfaction regarding the counseling session.
Results: There was significant difference between physicians and nurses regarding performance of FP counseling sessions where nurses showed better performance than physicians in all steps of the checklist. There was also a significant difference between physicians and nurses regarding the duration of experience, previous FP counseling training courses. Total satisfaction score was better among clients attending rural facilities. Conclusion: BCS gave better scores for nurses than for physicians in providing counseling sessions for clients.