Associate Professor Jane Harries

Drafting applications for big grants is often an intricate and immense task. So when Associate Professor Jane Harries had to write a two page online application for major funding she found it interesting to say the least.

Director at the Women's Health Research Unit (WHRU) in the School of Public Health and Family Medicine,  Assoc Prof Harries is the recent recipient of a Grand Challenges Explorations (GCE) grant. The GCE supports innovative thinkers worldwide to explore ideas that can break the mold in how we solve persistent global health and development challenges and is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Assoc Prof Harries’ project titled, “A multidimensional approach to inform family planning needs, preferences and behaviours amongst women in South Africa” is one of more than 55 GCE Round 17 grants.

The innovative project aims to find out how women experience contraceptives. Not just by speaking to them but finding out their physical, tactile and sensory experiences. To date, research on women’s perception about modern contraceptives has focused on broader factors such as side effects and the limited method choices that affect contraceptive decision-making. However, little is known about women’s physical and sensory experiences of contraceptive technologies, their day-to-day experiences and micro contexts of contraceptive use effect on their perceptions and decision-making around uptake and consistent use.

“Take for example, the contraceptive implant: how do women experience, visually or on a tactile level, something that is under the skin for four years?” asks Prof Harries. “Or the contraceptive injection,” she continues. “South Africa has the highest prevalance of injectible contraceptive use, but sustained use is a problem. The first thing that comes to mind is the needle. It is a sharp instrument and many people have a fear of needles. How do women relate to that experience?”

This multisensory approach will explore the barriers to contraceptive use and uptake amongst women and men in both urban and rural areas of South Africa. The inclusion of men coupled with conducting the study in a community setting will allow for a more holistic approach to the study of contraceptive use, says Assoc Prof Harries.