MAQ & Related Publications

Other Related Publications

Contraceptive Security: Ready Lessons -- USAID. Series of booklets suggesting some practical steps USAID Missions and their partners can take to promote and support country-led programs for contraceptive security: strategies to establish and maintain secure supplies of contraceptives and condoms.

Gender -- "The Intersection of Gender, Access, and Quality of Care in Reproductive Services: Examples from Kenya, India, and Guatemala." -- Karen Hardee, April 2005. This paper describes the experiences of three types of programs (government, reproductive health NGO, and women's health NGO) in Kenya, India, and Guatemala that integrate gender in their work and examines how they integrate gender into programs that improve quality of care and access to care. This report does not document whether gender integration results in higher quality and access, but rather documents how gender integration can take place.

Knowledge Management

Managing Knowledge to Improve Reproductive Health Programs Using case studies and illustrative vignettes, this paper highlights the experiences of a number of developing country family planning/reproductive health organizations in integrating knowledge management tools and strategies to improve work processes and outcomes.

Knowledge Management Feedback Form After reading the Knowledge Management paper (see previous paragraph), please contribute to the growing discourse on knowledge management in reproductive health care by sharing your experiences, challenges, suggestions, and questions.

Leading Change -- "Leading Changes in Practices to Improve Health," -- Volume 13, No. 3 of The Manager, MSH's management quarterly. Health managers can bring about lasting, meaningful change by becoming internal change agents within their organizations. This issue explores ways health managers can lead a five-phase process to make significant changes in clinical and management practices, even without strategic or structural interventions from highler organizational levels. The accompanying case scenario may be used for staff development and training.

 MAQ Population Reports

 Population Reports, MAQ Series Q, No.2: "Organizing Work Better" -- Johns Hopkins INFO Project, WINTER 2004. How can family planning programs use the resources they have to provide better services to clients and offer more satisfying work to staff? This issue discusses reorganizing work processes as a common-sense solution.

Population Reports, MAQ Series Q, No.1: "Improving Client-Provider Interaction" -- Johns Hopkins INFO Project, FALL 2003. This issue calls on family planning programs and providers to consider clients in a broader context, as members of couples, extended families, informal social networks, and the larger community, and to appreciate the economic pressures, social issues, and local beliefs that shape their decisions.

Miscellaneous 

Performance Improvement Journal -- September 2003. This issue includes first-hand reports of how the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has adapted performance improvement models for use in developing countries.

Family Planning: A Global Handbook for Providers -- Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, INFO Project, 2007. This new resource, one of the World Health Organization's Family Planning Cornerstones, provides evidence-based guidance developed through worldwide collaboration. This handbook offers clinic-based health care professionals in developing countries the latest guidance on providing contraceptive methods. Available online and in print.

"Do you know your family planning choices?" -- Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health/INFO Project, 2007. This replaces the old wall chart of the same name. It continues to serve as a user-friendly job aid that describes contraceptive methods, their advantages, and any related health risks. Available in multiple languages.

Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use -- World Health Organization, Third Edition 2004. This document reviews the medical eligibility criteria for use of contraception, offering guidance on the safety of use of 19 different methods for women and men with specific characteristics or known medical conditions. The recommendations are based on systematic reviews of available clinical and epidemiological research. It is the companion guideline to WHO's Selected Practice Recommendations for Contraceptive Use. These documents are intended to be used by policy makers, program managers, and the scientific community, and aim to support national programs in the preparation of service delivery guidelines.

Recommendations for Updating Selected Practices in Contraceptive Use, Volumes I & II -- MAQ Technical Guidance and Competence (TG/C) Subcommittee, 1994 & 1997. MAQ Technical Guidance and Competence (TG/C) Subcommittee, 1994 & 1997. Endorsed by WHO, these recommendations on contraceptive use were developed to update procedural guidelines and to make them consistent with current clinical and epidemiological evidence. (French) (Portuguese)

 The MAQ Checklist  -- Policy, Advocacy, Communication and Education (PACE) Subcommittee, 1998. The MAQ Checklist is a comprehensive listing of all components of quality and access relevant to family planning services. The checklist is a useful reference for program managers, design teams and evaluators concerned with improving service quality.
The MAQ Checklist - French
The MAQ Checklist - Spanish

Monitoring Quality of Care in Family Planning by the Quick Investigation of Quality (QIQ): Country Reports
[.5 Mb] Monitoring and Evaluation Subcommittee/Measure Evaluation, 2000. QIQ is the result of an initiative to improve and standardize data collection on quality of service for family planning and reproductive health and develop tools that are time and cost efficient.

Population Reports, Series M, Number 19: "New Contraceptive Choices" -- Johns Hopkins INFO Project, April 2005. Researchers are improving existing contraceptives and developing new ways to deliver hormones in response to family planning users' and providers' call for more contraceptive choices that are highly effective, cause fewer side effects, cost less, and are easier to use. 

Population Reports, Series J, Number 44: "Family Planning Methods: New Guidance" -- Johns Hopkins Population Information Program, October 1996. This issue provides a handy condensed version of Improving Access to Quality Care in Family Planning: Medical Eligibility Criteria for Contraceptive Use and Recommendations for Updating Selected Practices in Contraceptive Use, Volumes I & II, and a chart of the WHO Medical Eligability Criteria.

Client Provider Interactions in Family Planning Services: Guidance from Research and Program Experience -- Client-Provider Interaction (CPI) Subcommittee, 1997. This research-based paper summarizes best practices in family planning counseling. Contact Elaine Murphy (emurphy@path-dc.org)

A User's Guide for Monitoring Quality of Care in Family Planning

QIQ Tools (Zipped download files that require Epi Info software to open; readable with MS Word)