Tools and Techniques

Common Indicators for a Family Planning Program

Inputs (Resources, Activities)

• Total funds received from donors and clients
• Total commodities (supplies, equipment, contraceptives) received
• Training and technical assistance received by project staff
• Funds expended
• Supplies and contraceptives expended (subtract inventory from amount received)
• Items in the work plan, such as people hired, etc.

Outputs (Services, Training, IEC)

• Number of new clients, given by choice of contraceptive method
• Number of providers trained, by type (doctors, nurses, distributors, etc.)
• Number of clinics or distribution posts opened
• Number of educational materials produced, by type
• Number of community meetings and number of people informed at meetings
• Number of referrals for clinical methods, broken down by method
• Number of revisits (for clinics)
• Number of contraceptives distributed, by contraceptive method
• Number of couple years of protection provided

Indicators of Quality of Care (Some of these indicators can only be measured through evaluation research, depending on the program's MIS)

• Providers' level of adherence to informed choice protocols
• Providers' level of adherence to clinical protocols for each method
• Method mix offered
• Percentage of clients referred by other clients (indicator of client satisfaction)
• Continuation rates in program (method switchers, child spacers, and clients moving out of area not counted as discontinuers)
• Percentage of clients expressing satisfaction with the service

Indicators of Effectiveness

• Percentage of couples of reproductive age in the catchment area served by the program
• Indicators of knowledge of, attitudes toward, and practice of family planning in program area

Indicators of Impact

• Contraceptive prevalence in area
• Crude birth rate in area
• Induced abortion rates in area (if available)
• Total and age-specific fertility rates in area
• Infant mortality rate
• Maternal mortality rate
• Rate of high-risk births (to women over 35 or grand multipara)