Family planning desires of older adults (50 years and over) in Botswana

  • Njoku Ola Ama University of Botswana
  • John O Olaomi University of South Africa
Keywords: accessibility, availability, contraceptive, family planning, knowledge, older adults, use

Abstract

Background: This study analysed the views of a stratified sample of 444 older adult women from selected health districts in Botswana on their family planning (FP) use, knowledge, accessibility and availability.

Methods: Four health districts (two rural and two urban) were purposively selected. The sample of 444 older adults was proportionally allocated to the districts. The snowball technique was used in identifying older adults from each district.

Results: Contraceptive prevalence among the older adults is low (25. 2%); ever used rate was 23.6%, with unmet need as high as 75.2%. The traditional methods are mainly used. Knowledge, availability and accessibility of the natural methods are high. The likelihood ratio test shows that age, educational status, marital status and employment jointly significantly predicts (p < 0.05) the use of FP.

Conclusion: Family planning programme developers and policy-makers should develop educational interventions that will be age specific and relevant to older adults.

The full article is available at https://doi.org/10.1080/20786190.2018.1531584

Author Biographies

Njoku Ola Ama, University of Botswana

Department of Statistics, University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana; and Department of Statistics, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa

John O Olaomi, University of South Africa

Department of Statistics, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa

Published
2019-03-07
Issue
Vol 61 No 1: January/February 2019
Section
Research Articles
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