Quality of Family Planning Services at Sangini Network Pharmacies in Nepal

Background:

In Nepal, SHOPS Plus supports the goals of USAID and the Government of Nepal to increase the use of and access to family planning and other health products. To this end, SHOPS Plus provides technical assistance to the Nepal Contraceptive Retail Sales Company (CRS) to market and distribute modern contraception. CRS established the Sangini network of pharmacies that promote and provide high quality family planning services and methods. SHOPS Plus is working with CRS to improve CRS’ training and supportive supervision of Sangini pharmacies. In order to inform these activities, SHOPS Plus and CRS conducted a mystery client survey to monitor the quality of family planning services at Sangini network pharmacies. The survey took place in the rural hill and mountain districts of Nepal, covered by CRS’ Ghar Ghar Maa Swasthya, or “Health Homes” project, as one of CRS’s aims is to improve access to family planning services and methods in hard-to-reach areas of Nepal.

Research questions:

• Are Sangini providers meeting standards for high-quality family planning service provision?
• Do Sangini providers appropriately prescribe injectable contraceptives, oral contraceptives, and condoms? 
• How does performance of Sangini providers compare when measured during technical support visits (when providers are aware that CRS Quality Assurance Officers are observing them) and mystery client visits (when providers are not aware that they are being observed)? 
• Which topics and skills should future CRS training and support activities focus on to improve the quality of family planning services at Sangini network pharmacies? 

Methods:

This study used mystery client surveys to assess service quality. Survey enumerators posed as potential clients for family planning services at Sangini network pharmacies and answered any questions asked by Sangini providers according to a pre-defined script. After the visit, the mystery client filled out a short questionnaire designed to assess whether the Sangini provider followed guidelines for family planning counseling and recommended a family planning method appropriate for the scenario presented by the mystery client.

Research to Action:

Read more on how CRS is using data from this study to improve family planning service quality.

Status: Completed
Date of last update: October 2020

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