The Hidden Half: Male Involvement in Family Planning

As a health care professional, you know the importance of male involvement in family planning. We all know that women don’t get pregnant by themselves, but we may have trouble bringing men into the family planning equation for a variety of reasons. Research shows that:

• Men don't seek medical care as often as women.
• Men don’t usually come in with their wife or partner for her family planning appointments.
• Men don’t usually discuss sexual health or contraception with their own medical provider.

The good news is that you are in a position to create change for the better. Men have a right and a need to know about all birth control method options, not just condoms. Research shows that men recognize pregnancy and STD prevention as a joint responsibility. To draw them in, we need to use approaches that are male-friendly and focus on their specific needs. As a health care provider, there are many ways you can help involve men. Here are just a few ideas:

Make men feel welcome in your practice.

There are many innovations you can make for your practice to become more male-friendly:

• Hire male nurses, peer educators, and other staff at your clinic to make men feel more welcome.
• Make your waiting room area more inclusive of men. For example, have magazines that appeal to men as well as women.
• Order male-friendly health education materials for your waiting area. You can get free sample copies of CFHC’s booklets “What Men Want to Know about Sex and Birth Control” and “Two Heads Are Better than One” by emailing samples@cfhc.org or calling 1-800-428-5438.

Encourage women to include their male partners.

While not all women will feel comfortable including their partners for a variety of reasons, it's important to let women know that their partners are welcome.

• Invite your female clients to bring their partners with them to appointments.
• Include male partners when you talk about birth control, if that is agreeable to the woman.
• Make sure all your male clients know about Emergency Contraception (EC).

Find other ways to show your commitment to involving men.

• Support funding for research into male contraceptives. Click here to visit www.malecontraceptives.org.
• Host a men’s health fair at your clinic or local community center.
• Add a “Men and Family Planning” section to your clinic’s website.
• Attend trainings with your staff on how to better serve and involve men.

Opportunities for Funding Programs and Services

Over the past few years, federal and state family planning agencies have offered many opportunities for funding for male services, outreach and education.

• For more information on Title X Male Involvement Prevention Services click here.

• For more information on male services covered under California ’s Family PACT program, click here (PDF).

• In addition, the California Family Health Council’s Male Services Program provides eleven agencies with Title X dollars to increase the numbers of males over 25 receiving reproductive health care. For more information on the Male Services Program, please contact Ricardo Alvarado at alvarador@cfhc.org.

If you are interested in additional information on male involvement, click here for our Recommended Resources.