Logical framework of quality of care in family planning in China: client-centered approach

The year 2018 marks the 40th anniversary of China’s reforms and opening to the world. As an important part of the overall reform effort, reform of the national family planning program, begun in the 1990s as a pilot project focused on quality of care, has achieved historic and significant results. The pilot project, conducted by the State Family Planning Commission of China in a few select areas, was a response to the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, as well as to a range of social and economic changes in China. To achieve quality of care, the pilot project adopted a client-centered approach to refocus China’s family planning efforts on client needs and rights, informed choice of contraceptives and the provision of better quality services. After nearly 10 years of trials, the successful experiences of the pilot project served as the basis of a family planning program reform rolled out nationwide. This paper uses a logic framework approach to review the main activities, outputs, and impacts of the pilot project. The paper argues that the quality of care project not only developed a model that facilitated reorientation of China’s earlier family planning efforts, but has also provided experiences and lessons that can serve as references for the implementation of “Healthy China 2030” in the future.