FACTORS INFLUENCING THE ATTITUDE OF WOMEN TOWARDS THE USE OF FAMILY PLANNING IN NKPAKNA COMMUNITY OGOJA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA TABLE OF CONTENT

TOPIC IS SUITABLE FOR:
1. Public Health
2. Nursing Science
3. Sociology
4. Community Health Extension and Education

TOPIC: FACTORS INFLUENCING THE ATTITUDE OF WOMEN TOWARDS THE USE OF FAMILY PLANNING IN NKPAKNA COMMUNITY OGOJA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

TABLE OF CONTENT
Abstract
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
1.2 Statement of the Problem
1.3 Purpose of the Study
1.4 Significance of the Study
1.5 Research Questions/Hypotheses
1.6 Scope (Delimitation)
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY
3.1 Research Study
3.2 Area of the Study
3.3 Population of the Study
3.4 Sample and Sampling Techniques
3.5 Instrument for Data Collection
3.6 Validation of the Instrument
3.7 Reliability of the Instrument
3.8 Method of Data Collection
3.9 Method of Data Analysis
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION, IMPLICATION, SUGGESTIONS, RECOMMENDATION AND SUMMARY
5.1 Discussion
5.2 Conclusion
5.3 Implication of Findings
5.4 Recommendations
5.5 Suggestion for Further Studies
5.6 Limitation to the Study
5.7 Summary
References
Appendix

ABSTRACT
This study assessed the factors influencing the attitude of women towards the use of family planning in Nkpakna community Ogoja Local Government Area. Specifically, the study objectives were aimed to assess the knowledge and awareness of family planning among women in Nkpakna community Ogoja Local Government Area, explore the attitude  of women towards family planning in Nkpakna community Ogoja Local Government Area, investigate practice and influence of family planning in Nkpakna community Ogoja Local Government Area, and identify challenges and barriers influencing the attitude of women towards the use of family planning in Nkpakna community Ogoja Local Government Area.The proposed study ran a descriptive survey research design in which the sample population size was 5,000 women aged between 15-49 years. The sample size of 357 has been established using Taro Yamane formula. The multi-stage sampling was employed with elements of representativeness in this stratified and random sampling technique. The structured questionnaire was utilized to collect the data that was analyzed by descriptive statistics, frequency, mean, and the standard deviation with a cutoff at 2.50 as a mean.
Contrast results indicated that the level of knowledge and awareness family planning possessed by the women was on a positive level with mean values like 3.49 representing media exposure and 3.38 representing the comprehension of its purpose. The respondents had a mainly positive attitude, as the average response to such statements as family planning is important (X̄ = 3.58) or discussing family planning with a partner is normal (X̄ = 3.43) was high. Concerning practice, great proportion of women had practiced family planning measures (X = 3.34), and a significant number of health workers had influenced it to a greater extent (X = 3.21). Nevertheless, the main obstacles were apprehension of side effects (X 3.59) and no support on part of the partner (X 3.29). based on these findings the study recommendation includes retraining health workers on the concept of respectful care plans, bringing religious/community leaders onboard in creating awareness programs, increasing access point locations, the importance of men inclusion in reproductive health decision-making, and incorporation of family planning programs in schools and media.
Keywords: Family Planning, Women Attitude, Reproductive Health, Awareness, Barriers, Practice.

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION (Preview)
1.1 Background of the Study
The pattern of human behavior especially concerning our health and reproduction largely depends on our cultural settings and learning. In every society, the attitudes pertaining to fertility, sexuality, and family constitution are influenced not only by personal decisions but also by the shared beliefs and tendencies. These cultural insights are the perceptual apparatus that is used to view and interpret family planning in most of the African contexts such as rural communities in Nigerian. According to the argument by Mokwena and Alarape (2022), reproductive choices are hardly independent, as they are imbedded into community expectations and gender roles. Sheahan et al. (2022) also warn that the resistance and misunderstandings will force the public health operations to fit these social fabrics. The perception that such cultural supports have on the attitude that women maintain toward family planning would thus serve as an opening into exploring more on how women make reproductive choices.
Advancing this cultural model, knowledge and awareness become the critical intermediary between the values and individual wellbeing in the society. Although communal norms determine how open they can be to reproductive technologies, the level of valid information communicated to women further determines their attitudes. Women who have a solid and sensible information base regarding contraceptive methods and means are usually in a better place to handle society and achieve empowered choice (Tuamlong et al., 2023). Nevertheless, consciousness is not enough when it is not deep enough and credible. According to Umeobieri et al. (2023), misinformation can easily occur and misshape reality in an environment where oral forms are present and anecdotal beliefs are widespread. Therefore, knowledge can be considered to create a connecting point between cultural orientation and individual agency to justify the value of personalised health education in the use of family planning.
This interrelationship of awareness and attitude is what shows that the processes of how family planning is perceived is an active process of what is internalized by women in the universe of how things are done which is related to the cultural and religious social constructs. Some attitude of positive or negative attitude towards family planning may develop irrespective of the availability of the information about family planning depending on the compatibility of such information with their moral and spiritual understanding. Uche et al. (2024) states that religious and familial ideologies affect the moral judgment of women about the use of contraceptives, who consider it as a moral rather than a health-related choice. This indicates that both external education and value systems internalized are the factors determining the attitudes. According to Amiesimaka and Payam (2024), religious authorities and the social networks usually become deciders of acceptable issues which support or reshape the existing attitudes. Thus, the concepts of awareness and attitude are indivisible, which is based on the cultural and ethical paradigm of the community.
This certainly should be the case when there are positive attitudes; however, it is proving to be that positive attitude does not necessarily result in use. Other social dynamics moderate this process of transition between perception and action; hence, partner influence, availability of services, or the responsiveness of health systems. Tuamlong et al. (2023) note that the approval of the male partner can act as a gatekeeper towards reproductive decision-making, and especially in patriarchal families. This sentiment gets further confirmed by the observations of Igbokwe et al. (2023a), which note that even properly informed and woman-positive women can give up the use of contraception as an indifference to possible marital conflict or lack of support by the spouse. Therefore, although knowledge and attitude create an initial set of orientation regarding family planning, practice represents the compromise of these assumptions against the limitation of the real world. In this way practice is the result of the internalization of the values incorporated in behavior with interplay by external factors.
These limitations also demonstrate an existence of difficulties and obstacles that complicate the way women can operate under their reproductive plans. The barriers to women may be either structural, as e.g. limited access to health facilities, or socio-cultural, as e.g. fear of stigmatization, but in either case they tend to muzzle their intentions. According to Sulemana et al. (2024), fear of side effects and economic constraints as well as deeply rooted gender hierarchies become some of the greatest deterrents to practice. Umeobieri et al. (2023) in their turn emphasize the importance of systemic inequities that can lower the autonomy of women and their access to reproductive health services. These barriers are not the single negative phenomena but a complex of the effects of the cultural, informational, and relational factors that have been described above. They, therefore, constitute the last drop in the chain that starts with culture to knowledge and attitude and ends in reproductive behavior, which makes it significant to approach family planning as a whole.
In this wider scope of analysis, the society of Nkpakna region in Ogoja Local Government Area portrays a strong argument about studying the local occurrence of these interwoven realities. These patterns in the rural sector of Nigeria reflect to the general ones but possess distinct features as defined by the socio-cultural, religious, and infrastructural environment of the area. Uche et al. (2024) argue that the deeper entrenched beliefs can establish critical insights on the interaction between beliefs and dissemination of knowledge as well as service delivery in a rural community like Nkpakna. Amiesimaka and Payam (2024) also point out the necessity of approaches to locally adapted methods of interventions based on the realities experienced by women in such places. This study will not only, therefore, strive to record the complexity of the individual choices by examining the attitudes of women to family planning in Nkpakna but also to shed some insight on the socio-cultural ecosystem within which these choices are adopted.

1.2 Statement of the Problem
Family planning has become one of the most well-known public health efforts in the hope of enhancing maternal and infant health, minimizing unplanned pregnancies, and contributing to the socio-economic growth. It is not only clinically but also social and that is developmental especially in the areas where population increase has placed burden on the limited resources available. Mokwena and Alarape (2022) argue that an increase in family planning in community-based health programs has helped to reduce fertility levels in many parts of the world. Likewise, Sheahan et al. (2022) state that giving women control of their reproductive health increases gender equity and the health over time. Although family planning has been deemed very beneficial, its usage rates are not distributed fairly, and in many cases, rural women and men are simply too far behind to adopt their practice due to several factors that are combined in this unique case. This paper falls within the context of this discourse and it explores the experience and use of women in the Nkpakna community in the concept and practice of family planning.
This is a problem because there will always be a discrepancy between knowing about family planning and utilizing it among the women of the rural society such as Nkpakna. Though there is a report of increasing awareness concerning the available contraceptives, there is still a high level of reluctance and apathy by women to use the available contraceptives. As it has been noticed by Tuamlong et al. (2023), the rise of awareness through awareness campaigns has not always been converted to the realization of the said awareness among the many rural populations. In the experience of Nkpakna, the local people and anecdotal evidence suggest that even though health centers are available and outreach is practiced contraceptive use lacks consistency and many women are not consistent in the use of contraceptives. According to Uche et al. (2024), such disconnect can be explained by the conventional role of culture, religion, or relationship factors but these factors and their scope are not well-known. The ultimate way to live would be a community, in which not only is family planning understood by women but there is supporting positive attitude and participation. But the reality is below this standard and this should be a problem that has been deserving to be addressed in empirical studies.
In addition, considerable dearth exists in locally oriented studies that are aimed at the elucidation of the contextual interaction between the knowledge and attitudes, and the contextual barriers that influence family planning practices in local rural Nigerian communities. Despite their broad understanding of national surveys, they often ignore community-specific dynamics that are subtle and cause variation in reproductive health behavior. According to Igbokwe et al. (2023a), local studies are essential in the development of targeted policies that would control the distinct socio-culture in rural regions. Amiesimaka and Payam (2024) also believe so, claiming that urban-based suppositions might overlook the everyday lives of rural women. Nkpakna is representative of most communities in Cross River State that are in short supply in the existing literature on reproductive health. This study aims at closing this gap by providing evidence-based information on the factors that shape the attitude of women toward family planning in this locality. Hence, this study will conduct the notion that by researching on the factors influencing the attitude of women towards the use of family planning in Nkpakna community Ogoja Local Government Area.
1.3 Purpose of Study
The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the factors influencing the attitude of women towards the use of family planning in Nkpakna community Ogoja Local Government Area. Specific aims of this study are:
1 Assess the knowledge and awareness of family planning among women in Nkpakna community Ogoja Local Government Area.
2 Explore the attitude  of women towards family planning in Nkpakna community Ogoja Local Government Area
3 Investigate practice and influence of family planning among women in Nkpakna community Ogoja Local Government Area
4 Identify challenges and barriers influencing the attitude of women towards the use of family planning in Nkpakna community Ogoja Local Government Area.
OTHER PARTS OF CHAPTER ONE INCLUDE:
1.4 Significance of the study
1.5 Research Questions
1.6 Scope of Study

CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW (Preview)
This chapter critically examines relevant literature that would assist in explaining the research problem and, furthermore, recognizes the efforts of scholars who had previously contributed immensely to similar research. The chapter intends to deepen the understanding of the study and close the perceived gaps. This chapter, therefore, focuses on the concept of family planning, the concept of women’s attitudes towards family planning, types and methods of family planning, factors influencing women’s attitudes towards the use of family planning, and the benefits and challenges associated with family planning in Nkpakna Community, Ogoja Local Government Area. The chapter covers the following subheadings:
2.1 Conceptual Framework
2.2 Theoretical Framework
2.3 Empirical Review
2.4 Summary of Literature Review

CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY OF THE STUDY (Preview)
Research Design: The study adopted a descriptive research design.
Population of the Study: The population of the study comprises women of reproductive age living in Nkpakna Community, Ogoja Local Government Area, Cross River State.
Sample Size Determination: The study adopted the Taro Yamane formula to determine a sample size of 370 participants.
Sampling Technique: The study employed a multi-stage sampling technique to select the individual respondents.
Research Instrument: The study utilized a structured questionnaire as the instrument for data collection.
Methods of Data Analysis: The collected data were analyzed using frequencies and percentages to summarize and present the demographic characteristics of the respondents and their opinions. The data were analyzed using SPSS and presented in tables, charts, and graphs.

CHAPTER FOUR; DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
MAJOR FINDINGS (Preview)
The analysis results were presented in tables. Based on the results obtained from the analysis, the following findings are made:

i. The study found that women in Nkpakna Community, Ogoja Local Government Area, had a satisfactory level of knowledge and awareness of family planning, as all seven statements recorded mean scores of 3.00 and above, exceeding the acceptance benchmark of 2.50. The highest mean score of 3.75 was recorded for awareness of family planning through health workers or the media, while receiving counselling or education on family planning recorded the lowest accepted mean score of 3.00.

ii. The study found that women generally had a positive attitude towards family planning, as six out of seven statements recorded mean scores above the acceptance benchmark of 2.50. The highest mean score of 3.70 was recorded for the belief that family planning is important for the health of women and children, while the belief that family planning promotes promiscuity recorded a mean score of 2.26 and was rejected.

iii. The study found that women demonstrated a considerable level of family planning practice and influence, as six out of seven statements recorded mean scores above the acceptance benchmark of 2.50. Personal use of at least one family planning method recorded the highest mean score of 3.34, while the support of religious leaders recorded a mean score of 2.45, indicating that religious endorsement was not widely acknowledged.

iv. The study found that several factors influenced women’s attitudes towards the use of family planning in Nkpakna Community, including fear of side effects, lack of partner support, religious beliefs, limited access to family planning centres, inadequate information, cultural beliefs, and cost. Fear of side effects recorded the highest mean score of 3.59, while the cost of family planning methods recorded the lowest mean score of 2.51, which was still above the acceptance benchmark of 2.50.

CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION, IMPLICATION, SUGGESTION, RECOMMENDATION AND SUMMARY
This chapter covers the following outline:
5.1 Discussion
5.2 Conclusion
5.3 Implication
5.4 Recommendations
5.5 Suggestion for Further Studies
5.6 Limitations of the Study
5.7 Summary

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