A review of non-family planning program literature relevant to male oriented family planning programs.

On the assumption that experiences of other types of programs involving men as clients would be useful to family planning programs open to or directed toward men sociological literature was reviewed and various organizations contacted. Such relevant information as was available largely dealt with job training programs for disadvantaged youths. The relevant experiences of these programs are described: recruitment (use of outreach staff and referring agencies use of mass media informal or peer communication; the importance of the programs reputation among target clients); retention of clients; program design (structure use of indigenous staff); and motivation of the participants. Among the lessons to be learned from this review are that program content and quality are the critical core from which other components extend. Careful determination of the characteristics of the target population and the services it needs is essential. Other important aspects of program design include early collection and evaluation of data; involvement of persons from cooperating organizations and the community in planning operations and evaluation; provision of adequate training to staff; and encouraging creativity in training and development of educational materials. Recruitment of clients was found to be most effective when done by peers of the target group; use of mass media helps to create a climate of awareness but does not always serve as a direct means of bringing in clients. The use of referrals from other community agencies was considered important if the target populations are the same or similar and if good working relationships exist among the agencies.