AFRO-NETS> News from the Johns Hopkins Population Information Program

["Stephen M. Goldstein" <sgoldste@welchlink.welch.jhu.edu>]

News from the Johns Hopkins Population Information Program
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New Research Documents - Success of Johns Hopkins GATHER Counselling 
for Family Planning

New research finds that the 6-step GATHER approach to counselling leads 
to more satisfied family planning clients, more clients choosing family 
planning, and clients using family planning longer. The findings coin-
cide with publication of a new Johns Hopkins Population Information 
Program (JHU/PIP) 'GATHER Guide to Counselling' - an updated and ex-
panded version of the widely used Population Reports counselling guide.

The acronym GATHER stands for Greet, Ask, Tell, Help, Explain, and Re-
turn. Family planning providers throughout the developing world have 
used GATHER to remind themselves of these six steps in counselling. 
GATHER was introduced in the quarterly journal Population Reports in 
1988. Since then JHU/PIP has distributed over a quarter million copies 
of the counselling guide in English, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. 
Other countries have adapted and translated GATHER. In Nepal, for exam-
ple, GATHER was translated into Abhibadan, which means "gracious wel-
come." The syllables in Abhibadan stand for the same good counselling 
elements as in GATHER.

"Everyone acknowledges the importance of counselling," says Douglas 
Storey, Ph.D., a Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs 
(JHU/CCP) researcher who evaluated the use of GATHER counselling in Ne-
pal. "But we now have evidence that the more GATHER elements are used, 
the more likely that clients will adopt or continue using a family 
planning method."

JHU/CCP researchers interviewed over 1,000 family planning clients in 
Nepal who had visited a clinic within the past six months. "Unsatis-
fied" or "non-committed" clients reported only experiencing an average 
of 3 or 4 elements of the 6-part GATHER process. By comparison, "satis-
fied" or "completely satisfied" clients reported that the health care 
worker used an average of 5 or 6 GATHER elements during their counsel-
ling sessions.

"We also found that certain GATHER elements were more likely to result 
in satisfied clients," says Storey. "For example, satisfied clients 
were more likely to report that the provider had Greeted them and made 
them feel at ease, Asked them about their opinions and concerns, and 
Helped them to make a decision or reassured them about their concerns."

Use of GATHER also encouraged both adoption and continued use of family 
planning. Storey's team found that clients were more likely to adopt a 
method if the provider had helped the client to make a decision, ex-
plained how to use the method, and asked the client to return for an-
other visit-the H, E, and R steps in GATHER. Women were more likely to 
be continuing users of family planning if, during their most recent 
visit to a provider, they were greeted and made to feel at ease, they 
were asked about their opinions, and concerns, and they received expla-
nation of their questions about family planning. For them, the most im-
portant GATHER elements were Greet, Ask, and Explain.

The new 32-page, colour-coded guide includes the latest medical eligi-
bility criteria for each contraceptive method developed by the World 
Health Organisation and other international experts. Each GATHER ele-
ment has its own 2-page pull-out chart for display or quick reference. 
The guide also includes suggested training exercises and discussions, 
examples of dialogue that counsellors can adopt, and a checklist for 
providers to rate themselves on each GATHER element.

The GATHER Guide to Counselling was prepared by Ward Rinehart, MA, 
Sharon Rudy, Ph.D., and Megan Drennan, MPH. Population Reports is an 
international review journal of important issues in population, family 
planning, and related health matters. It is published four times a year 
in four languages by the Population Information Program at the Johns 
Hopkins Center for Communication Programs for more than 170,000 family 
planning and other health professionals world-wide, with support from 
the US Agency for International Development (USAID). If you would like 
to order previously published Population Reports or to add your name to 
the mailing list go to:
http://www.jhuccp.org/pr/poporder.stm
for ordering information. 

* Also available from the Johns Hopkins Population Information Program 
a slightly revised reprint of 'The Essentials of Contraceptive Technol-
ogy: A Handbook for Clinic Staff'.

The handbook answers the questions family planning providers in devel-
oping countries face every day. Built on the consensus of experts from 
around the world, The Essentials of Contraceptive Technology, promises 
to become a standard reference in clinics throughout the developing 
world.

The World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Population Fund 
(UNFPA), and the United States Agency for international Development 
(USAID) have endorsed the handbook. More than 70 experts and staff of 
WHO and USAID helped prepare and review the book. 

With support from USAID, JHU/PIP is distributing more than 300,000 cop-
ies of the new handbook, free of charge, to family planning programs in 
English-speaking developing countries. Spanish and French-language and 
possibly other editions will follow. The handbook includes a chapter on 
each major family planning method, from combined oral contraceptives to 
the Lactational Amenorrhea Method (based on breast-feeding).Each chap-
ter organises information in standard sections for easy reference. 
Other chapters cover family planning counselling and sexually transmit-
ted diseases including HIV/AIDS.

For ordering information go to:
http://www.jhuccp.org/ect/

USAID administers the US foreign assistance program, providing economic 
and humanitarian assistance in more than 80 countries world-wide. For 
more information contact: 
Stephen Goldstein 
Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs
111 Market Place, Suite 310, 
Baltimore, Maryland 21202, USA. 
Tel: +1-410-659-6300; 
Fax: +1-410-659-2645; 
mailto:PopRepts@welchlink.welch.jhu.edu

For further information about the Johns Hopkins Center for Communica-
tion Programs, please visit our web site at: 
http://www.jhuccp.org


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