INNOVATIONS FOR CHOICE AND AUTONOMY

The Innovations for Choice and Autonomy (ICAN) project is rooted in the idea that women’s autonomy and decision-making should be a key priority in all sexual and reproductive health (SRH) efforts. Through a variety of research methods, we aim to identify, develop, and evaluate scalable approaches tailored to meet women’s needs.

The ICAN project is guided by two questions:

  1. How can self-injection (SI) of the contraceptive method subcutaneous DMPA (DMPA-SC) be implemented in a way that best meets women’s needs, as they themselves define them?

  2. Can self-injection enhance contraceptive agency for women who face the most barriers?

The ICAN consortium includes researchers at Akena+ Health in Nigeria, Makerere University in Uganda, Kenya Medical Research Institute, the Malawi University of Science and Technology, and the University of California, San Francisco in the US. The ICAN project is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Our project's outcomes include:

  1. Improved understanding of who may be the most likely to benefit from the introduction of SI among program implementors and governments across study sites in Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, and Uganda.

  2. Improved understanding of effective approaches for introducing and supporting the use of SI (in the context of a full basket of contraceptive options) in a way that helps women overcome barriers and optimize facilitators to contraceptive decision-making and use among program implementors and governments across study sites in Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, and Uganda.

  3. Improved understanding of the role SI can play in promoting empowered contraceptive decision-making and autonomy among program implementors and governments across the study sites in Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, and Uganda

  4. Improved mixed methods research capacities and quality among research partners in Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Uganda, and the United States.

As a postdoctoral researcher and ICAN’s Director of Human-Centered Design, my particular role in the project focused on leading a collaborative effort to design and evaluate approaches for introducing and supporting the use of DMPA-SC for self-injection (in the context of a full basket of contraceptive options) across public, private, and e-commerce channels.

Publications forthcoming