"She is courageous because she does not care what people think about her…": attitudes toward adolescent contraception use among Rwandan family planning providers and adult female modern contraceptive users.

Introduction: In Rwanda, only 20% of sexually active unmarried young women use family planning as compared to 64% of married women. Adolescence is an important time of growth and development that often includes the initiation of sexual activity. Sexually active adolescents need support in accessing contraceptive services to prevent negative health outcomes.

"…the availability of contraceptives is everywhere.": coordinated and integrated public family planning service delivery in Rwanda.

Background: Contraceptive use in Rwanda tripled since 2005. This study aims to understand the role of coordinated and integrated public family planning service delivery in achieving this increase in contraceptive use in Rwanda.

Methods: This qualitative study in 2018 included eight focus group discussions with family planning providers and 32 in-depth interviews with experienced family planning users.

Family planning providers and contraceptive users in Rwanda employ strategies to prevent discontinuation.

Background: In Rwanda, nearly a third of contraceptive users discontinue within the first year of use. Family planning programs often focus more on recruitment of new users as opposed to maintaining use among current users. A focus on sustaining users and minimizing discontinuation is imperative for long-term family planning program success.

An examination of the barriers to and benefits from collaborative couple contraceptive use in Rwanda.

Background: Supportive male involvement is strongly correlated with contraceptive use. In Rwanda, where the contraceptive prevalence rate among married women increased from 17 to 52% from 2005 to 2010, and stagnated at 53% in 2015, understanding the role of male partners in collaborative couple contraceptive use can help inform programs designed to further increase the use of contraception in Rwanda.

Methods: This study utilized qualitative methods in 2018, specifically 32 in-depth interviewers with mostly current users of modern contraceptive methods and eight focus group discussions with family planning providers-both family planning nurses and community health workers (CHWs).

"… the way we welcome them is how we will lead them to love family planning.": family planning providers in Rwanda foster compassionate relationships with clients despite workplace challenges.

Background: Rwanda has markedly increased the nation's contraceptive use in a short period of time, tripling contraceptive prevalence in just 5 years between 2005 and 2010. An integral aspect of family planning programs is the interactions between family planning providers and clients. This study aims to understand the client-provider relationship in the Rwandan family planning program and to also examine barriers to those relationships.