intrauterine device (abbr.: IUD)
· a contraceptive device fitted inside the uterus and physically preventing the implantation of fertilized ova.
Today we met with PSI India where we got to speak with them about their Women’s Health Project. The goal is to improve the health status and quality of women in three states of India: Delhi, Rajasthan, and Uttar. Their target audience is women in the reproductive age (WRA). The project aims to dispel the myths and misconceptions these women have towards the ideas of birth control and sexual health. One of the ways they market this message is by forming a group of Interpersonal Communicators (IPC). This group counsels WRAs, provides referral coupons for IUD insertions, and follows up with women post insertion. Furthermore they offer answers to questions like “what’s going to happen to my body” and provide support when the husband is against the idea of no more children. Their main two messages are that (1) IUD is as effective as sterilization and (2) side effects subside within 3 to 6 months.
I fell in love with the idea of the IPCs. Here is a group of women and men that go to impoverished areas to the homes of WRAs in to have an honest conversation with them about sex and the idea of IUDs. I’ve learned through my Communications major that interpersonal communication can be the most persuasive form. It is more personal and as a result the WRA is more likely to agree and accept the message.
Freedom 5 is the name of the IUD that PSI gives to selected to providers. The providers must assure quality of service and care. Providers then sell Freedom 5 for about $250 rupees.
PSI explained that many of the WRA do not want to continue to have children, they come in already having on average 3-5 children, but the husband is against the idea of an IUD insertion. As a result husbands are their biggest challenge. When the idea of no longer having children and the various available methods to be used, the women of India go to their husbands first. And if he shuts down the idea, that’s the end of the conversation. To try and decrease the pressure that these women feel IPCs go and talk to husbands as well and try to explain the benefits. In India the husband plays a vital role in family planning. It was hard to hear how controlling the husbands are, the final decision should really be up to the woman.
Still there are some women that go ahead with an IUD insertion, and sometimes there are husbands that agree with it. Post insertion, IPCS follow up with women. Another service that PSI provides is a helpline that includes inbound calling to answer questions and provide information along with outbound calling that provides referrals to providers and post insertion follow up.
PSI India is still working on ways to measure the effectiveness of their efforts. However they did point out lessons learned through the first phase of the Women’s Health Project. They found that it was costly to keep IPCs and that doctors are not giving enough time for IUD counseling.
Apart from the husbands another challenge the PSI faces is on the issue of funding. We learned that donors are giving to the local organizations or government initiatives instead of companies like PSI.
In addition to the IPCS, PSI also uses social media to get their message across. They showed us a commercial that is used for the Freedom 5 product. Using the symbol of a lock, the characters in the commercial are a couple having a conversation and then going to a doctor to talk about having an IUD insertion. It looked glamorous and simple. Two adjectives not usually used to describe anything to do with an IUD insertion but it worked!
After hearing about the Women’s Health Project we got to meet with a doctor that provides Freedom 5 and a “chemist” (the equivalent of a pharmacist) that provides abortion pills amongst other drugs. The doctor gave us great insight about who is coming in for IUDs and the skepticism towards them. She explained that women believe the myths and misconceptions and therefore worry about what it will do to her body. Moreover they are concerned about other women in the community finding out about the insertion.
When we met with the chemist you could immediately tell that it was a corrupt system. Even though abortion pills are only suppose to be given with a prescription, we found out that sometimes that does not happen, along with other drugs.
In conclusion, I found PSI to have one of the best marketing and communication strategies that I have seen thus far on my trip in India. I found it very unfortunate that they found the IPCs to be too costly, because having communicators that work at the ground level, promoting the Women’s Health Project, directly speaks to your target audience and can get their message across. Therefore my suggestion would be to keep the IPCs and focus on a way to train chemist and doctors on how they too should properly promote IUDs and PSI India’s Women’s Health Project.
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