Tools

Reality √ Family Planning Forecasting Tool: User's Guide 
In the reproductive health and family planning field, contraceptive prevalence rates (CPR) are often discussed. Programmers and policy makers are frequently asked to forecast overall contraceptive and method prevalence rates at national or local levels and to analyze past CPR trends. Projecting contraceptive and method-specific prevalence rates is essential to evaluating current efforts, setting goals for the future, and planning realistically for the resources the program will require. But staff are often not equipped with the data or tools they need to make realistic programming decisions. The ACQUIRE Project developed a programmatic and technical model/tool, Reality √, that examines the relationship of contraceptive prevalence to contraceptive users, adopters, and commodities. Reality √ allows for gauging what are realistic goals for national, district, and facility-level programming, as well as helping planners use existing data to project CPR and method mix into the future and test scenarios that impact CPR. This type of local, specific data is crucial to:

• Evaluating whether contraceptive prevalence goals are achievable
• Programming based on data
• Advocating for the resources needed to actually achieve goals

Reality √ allows one to project the future CPR needs of the geographic area where one’s program is operating and is important for programmers in planning activities and interventions. The data can also provide evidence to use for advocacy purposes—one can advocate for an increase in family planning resources based on projected data. (2007)
Available as a PDF: User's Guide (1.5MB)  User's Template (Excel, 569KB) UN Population File (Excel, 7.6MB)   Reality √ Package (zip file, 4MB)

Ten Guiding Principles for LAPM Service Programs
The ACQUIRE Project has identified guiding principles for long-acting and permanent (LAPM) service programs that when applied in an integrated model of supply, demand, and advocacy will result in increased access to, quality of, and use of LAPM services. Reflecting almost four decades of family planning field experience and accumulated evidence related to the critical role that LAPMs play in health and development, the package contains a set of practical informational resources and tools to help national and local policy makers, health managers, and international donor representatives introduce or reinvigorate LAPM programs in resource-poor settings and ultimately to get commitment from national health systems to fully support their advancement. (2007)
Available as a PDF: download (671KB)

Programming for Training: A Resource Package for Trainers, Program Managers, and Supervisors of Reproductive Health and Family Planning Programs
Training is an essential component of service delivery; it can close gaps in knowledge, skills, and attitudes of reproductive health/family planning providers and can help to increase the availability of services. However, while training is often needed to increase the availability and quality of services, it usually cannot accomplish this alone, nor does training by itself necessarily produce more motivated and active service providers. This resource package provides an overall approach to programming for training, as well as information, methods, and tools for designing, developing, planning, implementing, and evaluating training. It also provides tools and information for strengthening training systems. (2008)
Available as a PDF: download (2.6MB)