Meeting the Felt-Need of Married Couples: The Case of a Diocesan Family Planning Program

Abstract

Drawing on the concept of program integrity, this paper assessed whether or not the Natural Family Planning
program of a church organization met the felt-need for family planning of married couples as its intended clients.
Program integrity is the practical concept that programs should be organizationally and structurally sound to meet the
needs of their intended recipients. It includes the five key elements of fidelity, dosage, reception, quality of service
and program differentiation. Multiple focus group discussions were conducted with the service providers and married
couples to gather data on its objectives, processes and outcomes. Except for the element of fidelity to the program’s
explicit objectives and values, the data clearly and consistently suggest that, in the case under observation, the
program did not adequately meet the felt-need of the married couples for family planning in terms of the four
elements of dosage, reception, quality of service delivery and program differentiation. Related to the five elements of
program integrity, implications to theory and pastoral practice were drawn and specific recommendations made to
enhance processes and achieve desired outcomes.