There was therefore a need to generate demand for family planning methods, by re-introducing family planning to the community in a way that would be both attractive and relevant, to attain sustainability.
In recognition of this, GSMF, in partnership with John Hopkins University, Ministry of Media Relations, Ministry of Health (MOH), National Population Council, Ghana Registered Midwives Association, Engender Health, and PPAG undertook an initiative to launch a nationwide family planning campaign in October 17, 2001, which was dubbed “Life Choices”. The goal of the Campaign was to increase the use of modern family planning methods in urban, peri-urban and rural areas, with particular attention to communities where pharmacies and chemical shops that retailed GSMF brands, MOH-AVSC assisted family planning clinics, PPAG clinics and other community based service providers already existed.
The attending objectives of Life Choices were:
- To increase awareness of the full range of modern contraceptives available to Ghanaian couples
- To increase social support for the use of modern contraceptive methods
- To decrease fear and misconceptions about modern contraceptive methods
- To help women understand and manage side effects, and
- To persuade eligible former users to use modern contraceptives.
The Campaign took off with an integrated interpersonal and mass media approach. Life Choices works with existing community-based organizations, key community leaders and prominent members of local organizations to mobilize social support for family planning. Radio, TV and print media are used to reinforce key messages from the community level intervention in the form of testimonial, using satisfied family planning users to debunk rumors and misinformation. It targets single or married adults of lower socio-economic status primarily, and opinion leaders and service providers. Overall, there are four segments of potential users: postponers, spacers, limiters and influencers. Postponers are those who wish to have children at a later time, spacers want to control the time interval between the conception of each child, limiters do not want to have any more children, and influencers are those who usually influence the decisions of the first three groups, e.g. family members, caretakers etc.
To maximize effectiveness, Campaign designers removed family planning from its perception as a population or health issue, and re-positioned it to focus on the individual, by giving it a socio-economic thrust. GSMF vigorously highlights the economic benefits of family planning in the life of the individual, and the family unit as a whole, within a social setting. The central message throughout Life Choices holds that life is about making choices, and in this case three levels of choices were identified: Life Choice, Baby Choice and Method Choice. Making choices about the course of one’s own life asserts a person’s fundamental human dignity, which makes family planning a basic human right. By determining when, and how many children she will have, a woman takes a step toward deciding how she will spend much of her life - whether she will pursue further education, devote more attention to each child she has, better manage household responsibilities, earn income to improve the economic and social status of her family, or even offer more contribution to advance her community and society as a whole. Also, in an attempt to eliminate misconceptions and reduce the fear of side effects, GSMF provides potential users with a variety of family planning methods, and offers training to service providers to enable them help clients make informed choices. Hence the attending campaign slogan, “It’s Your Life, It’s Your Choice”.
“It’s Your Life, It’s Your Choice” singularly permeates all TV, Radio and Print promotional material to imprint a de facto message in the minds of the target audience that family planning plays an integral role in the structuring of an individual’s life.
With a view to spreading its wings further, several programmes were developed to extend the Life Choices Campaign to address the specific needs and aspirations of target groups in the community. Programmes underway include:
- Apprentice Tailor and Dressmakers Programme
- Muslim Marriage Counselors Programme
- Marriage Counselors Programme with Churches
