With fertility rate reduction stalled since 2002 and the increasing influx of refugees with higher fertility rates, recently from the Syria, improving couples’ ability to control childbearing is vital for Jordan. As knowledge of / access to contraceptives is high, the question is how to influence behavior so that couples use the best method for them and using it correctly.
Contraceptives are available for free at public health centers but women often discontinue using them because of side effects or social pressure. Behavioral economics (BE) recognizes that decisions are often not deliberate but heavily influenced by the environment in which they are made. This project attempts to promote changes in reproductive behavior with BE by changing the way options are presented.
With our advisory committee, the team will review and revise health clinics’ protocols for contraceptive counseling. Twelve comprehensive health centers utilized by Jordanian and Syrian women and female youth, including refugees, will be randomly selected and assigned to three study arms. With four centers as controls, training will be carried out with health providers delivering the counseling in the other eight clinics. The counseling will incorporate BE methods of “framing” and “ identity priming.”
Women from four intervention clinics will also receive monthly text message reminders to persist in MFPM, and periodic phone calls asking how the contraceptives are working, encouraging them to raise any questions with their midwives and providing them with contact information. Analysis will show whether messages and/or the counseling improve women’s ability to use contraceptives to control fertility.
| First name | Last name | Gender | Rank | Affiliated Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heath | Prince | Male | Researcher | The University of Texas at Austin | United States of America |
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Bio:
Dr. Prince is the Ray Marshall Center’s director and a research scientist. He has over twenty years’ experience in the education, workforce, and international development fields as a researcher, project manager, policy analyst, and evaluator. Dr. Prince serves as principal investigator for research and evaluation projects related to poverty and the labor market, including a behavioral economics experiment in Northern Jordan related to post-natal care, a United Nations Research Institute for Social Development study examining post-Arab Spring policies and programs addressing youth unemployment in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia, as well as for program evaluations in Kenya, Ethiopia, and Nigeria. He has written, published, and presented extensively on domestic and international employment and training programs and policies, postsecondary education, and poverty reduction. |
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Website |
Scientific field
Economics
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Start Year2017
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End Year 2019
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| Funding Agency | Funding Agency Type | Country of Funding Agency |
|---|---|---|
| Netherlands Scientific Research Organization | Governmental Organization | Netherlands |
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