Exploring the Potential of Peer Support Group for Family Planning Needs of Women in Resource-constrained Settings in India

Despite the Indian government’s efforts to improve the awareness and uptake of family planning, rural women have an unmet need for family planning. Previous research, primarily in the medical domain, has offered counseling and informational support for family planning in a 1:1 manner and has explored non-technological-based peer support interventions for sexual and reproductive health in general. However, in HCI and CSCW, family planning remains an understudied topic. Thus, we aim to contribute to HCI knowledge by studying family planning among marginalized women in India. We explore the potential of technology-based peer support for family planning, given its high feasibility and acceptability for managing health conditions such as mental health illnesses and HIV. We conducted surveys, interviews, and a three-week field experiment with 30 rural Indian women to understand their engagement in a WhatsApp-based peer support group. Given the limited support within the family and from doctors and community health workers, we found the group to offer informational and emotional support to peers, help with local resources, and contribute to knowledge gain. Participants’ feedback uncovered design suggestions such as the design of discussion prompts, the role of the moderator, and privacy levels. We contribute design considerations for designing a peer support group for family planning and discuss the need to design a suite of tools for family planning.