Description of Session
• Through 8 years of developing and implementing community-based family planning systems with four NGO partners, D-tree International has established the solution Family Planning Plus, a comprehensive digital system supporting community-based family planning service provision, based on the Balanced Counselling Strategy Plus (BCS+). This solution comprises of mobile applications for Community Health Workers and Supervisors, on-device reports and program dashboards. It proves to be flexible and impactful, as it has been modified for four different settings and shows sustained positive program outcomes. Specifically, in one intervention area in Shinyanga, Tanzania with partner Pathfinder International, there was 70% increase in contraceptive prevalence, 95% continuous use among clients and 15x increase in follow up visits across 4 years of performance since 2014. • What makes this solution particularly impactful across location and time, is the flexible configuration to fit the program context, as well as the systems approach to implementation, which considers motivation and supervision across program stakeholders, from the beneficiary to the health worker and program manager. • Regarding flexibility, D-tree worked closely with NGO partners and government entities to understand the context of the solution, and then configured the solution to meet the context. This included updates to the protocols for method distribution and referrals, workflows for at-risk first time mother populations, and training and monitoring strategies according to program staff capabilities. After flexible configuration and design, D-tree took a systems approach to implementation, considering different stakeholder motivations to ensure adoption of the solution through supervisory, motivational, and capacity building structures. • In this presentation, D-tree will share the evolution of the Family Planning Plus solution and the potential to sustain and scale digital programs through strong partnerships, configurations for the program context, and a systems approach to implementation and follow up.
