Evaluation of national health programs. IV. Louisiana family planning

In 1966 the Orleans Parish Family Planning Program was developed with the objectives of developing a family planning delivery system that identified, contacted, educated, and provided all indigent families of the metropolitan area with family planning information and services; creating this program between July 1, 1967 and June 30, 1970; and evaluating the program by measuring its impact on fertility among the target population along with its effect on the various obstacles to family health associated with no family planning. The Orleans Parish component of Family Planning, Inc., a private non-profit corporation, is the largest single component of the statewide program that began in June 1967. The Orleans Parish Family Planning Clinic System consists of 1 central clinic and 3 satellite clinics. It offers prenatal care, postpartum care, prescription and medical supervision of contraceptive methods, screening for chronic diseases, and social and medical counseling. Evaluation of this program during the 1st 2 years of its operation revealed the following: 1) 17,459 families had become active users of the program; 2) about 74% of all patients who began contraceptive use during the 1st 6 months were still using contraception after 18 months; 3) over 95% of the families are black; 4) black women between the ages of 20 and 24 have been the biggest users of the services; and 5) the probability of a black patient using the program has been 6 times greater than for a white patient of the lower socioeconomic group. The people want and are motivated to receive these services when offered in an acceptable way. Such programs can be accepted throughout the country. A system that provides information about family planning along with the means to deliver health care and family planning services is what is needed.