Central America (2009): Health Providers Study Design: IUD's Perceptions in Central America, El Salvador, Guatemala & Nicaragua, 2009 First Round

To determine the level of IUD's perceptions among Family Planning providers, disaggregating by specific attributes that they take into account when prescribing any modern method of contraception. Results will be compared with future surveys on IUD perceptions to show the donors whether the Women's Health Project (WHP) has positively impacted on provider's perceptions/attitudes on IUD. It is assumed that WHP's programmatic activities will indirectly increase provider's positive perceptions about IUD over time and, this in turn, will set the ground for a continued growth of the project by generating demand on providers. The present study will be a baseline and will be compared to a follow-up study in 2010. A structured short questionnaire (attached) will be carried out with family planning providers that, according to the national regulations, should be responsible for inserting IUDs (working in NGOs, private and public sector). The first section of the questionnaire will collect socio-demographic information. The second part is the heart of the study and it will measure the providers' perceptions towards IUDs. It was built on a qualitative study carried out in 2009 with providers. It aligns the ques tions based on the attributes or things that concern the most the providers when prescribing a contraceptive method: practicality, reliability, social acceptance, convenience, availability, value, flexibility and comfort (see questionnaire for more detail). Each category includes between 2 and 5 different questions in a likert scale with 7 response categories: 1 being totally disagree and 7 totally agree. The third part of the questionnaire collects information about myths, and the fourth part about prescription habits