Background Women's Friendly Health Services (WFHS) are designed to be available, accessible, and affordable for women, providing care throughout their lives from youth to postmenopausal stages. These integrated services focus on women's needs, follow evidence-based practices, and are provided by a qualified and trained team. In 2022, Jordan took the initiative and implemented a WFHS in 9 primary health centres aiming at improving healthcare services for women across the life. However, there is limited data on WFHS in Jordan. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the experiences of healthcare providers (HCP) and users with women-friendly healthcare services in Jordan and to explore the challenges encountered in implementing this initiative. Methods This study involved a qualitative approach utilising semi-structured focus group discussions with 18 HCPs at piloted WFHS providing centres. Additionally, a quantitative was conducted with women utilising the WFHS in the piloted centres using a questionnaire. Results The analysis of the focus group discussions revealed key themes with several subthemes: high staff turnover, limited resources, and the need for additional integrated services. A survey of 393 women across 9 pilot centres showed generally positive perceptions of WFHS with high scores for respect and dignity (86%) and overall service quality (81.4%). The questionnaire was highly reliable (Cronbach alpha = 0.915). Nevertheless, women identified issues with staff greetings, and the lack of designated breastfeeding and diaper changing areas. WFHS was well-perceived by women, with discrimination-free care scoring the highest at 4.65 ± 0.592 (93%) and timely care scoring the lowest at 3.44 ± 1.125 (68.8%). Additionally, waiting time was identified as the main drawback to WFHS, scoring the lowest among all WFHS-friendly care-related questions at 3.16 ± 1.354 (63.2%). Conclusions The findings from the two methods aligned, revealing that HCP and women shared similar concerns. While the WFHS were well-received by participants and is seen as a positive initiative, further efforts are required to enhance and scale this initiative across Jordan and other Low-Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). Offering integrated and respectful care can improve healthcare utilisation and reflect high-quality service delivery.
Dahmash et al. (Wed,) studied this question.