About

Janine Barden-O'Fallon, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Maternal and Child Health at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. She has more than two decades of experience working in the field of monitoring, evaluation, and research in international health and development, with a specialization in family planning and reproductive health. Dr. Barden-O'Fallon is skilled in collecting primary quantitative and qualitative data, developing monitoring and evaluation tools and methodologies, and providing technical assistance to global initiatives, government agencies, and organizations on the collection, analysis, and use of information for program planning and decision-making. Her research activities include leading evaluation studies for multisectoral projects in Ethiopia and Ghana, reviewing and revising core family planning indicators, and participating in research to assess patterns and implications of age disaggregation for family planning indicators in national health information systems. She has served as Director of the USAID-funded MEASURE Evaluation PRH project and is responsible for maintaining the Family Planning/Reproductive Health Indicators Database, which has over 400 indicators and has received over 1.7 million visits since 2015. Dr. Barden-O'Fallon’s work has contributed significantly to the field of reproductive health monitoring and evaluation, supporting evidence-based decision-making and program development worldwide.

Selected publications

• Midline qualitative evaluation of an integrated health, livelihood, agriculture, and conservation program: Application of the RE-AIM framework

  Evaluation and Program Planning · 2026-01-09

  articleSenior authorCorresponding
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• Understanding the Low Uptake of Long-Acting Reversible and Permanent Contraceptive Methods in Bangladesh: A Qualitative Study

  Research Square · 2025-11-06

  preprintOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Need for Standardized Measure of Modern Method Availability: Assessment of Indicators Using Health Facility Data from Three Country Contexts

  UNC Libraries · 2025-04-08

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  The concept of contraceptive method choice is complex and difficult to measure, usually requiring multiple metrics that represent the service environment, access, and acceptability. One of the most used measures for the family planning service delivery environment is method availability, or specifically, the contraceptive options that are available to clients at any given family planning service delivery point. Despite the importance of the measure, indicator definitions vary widely and are not standardized. We identified six versions of the method availability indicator and calculated each version using Service Provision Assessment data from three countries with varying family planning profiles, health service structures, and from different geographic areas: Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Haiti. We compared method availability estimates by urban/rural location, facility type, and across country context. Our results showed a wide variability in method availability estimates depending on the indicator used. Generally, indicators requiring a particular mix of method types had lower estimates of method availability than indicators only requiring a minimum number of methods. Results are discussed and recommendations are made to standardize indicator language and guidance. We further recommend the standardization of an indicator with a minimum mix of method types to ensure that a variety of method preferences can be met.

  PublisherDOI

• Understanding the Low Uptake of Long-Acting Reversible and Permanent Contraceptive Methods in Bangladesh: A Qualitative Study

  Research Square · 2025-08-22

  preprintOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Evaluation of mainstreaming youth-friendly health in private clinics in Malawi

  UNC Libraries · 2025-04-09

  articleOpen accessSenior author
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• Association of gender-related factors and household food security in southwest Oromia, Ethiopia: evidence from a cross-sectional study

  UNC Libraries · 2025-04-08

  articleOpen access
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• Quality of family planning services in HIV integrated and non-integrated health facilities in Malawi and Tanzania

  UNC Libraries · 2025-04-09

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Routine Family Planning Data in the Low- and Middle-Income Country Context: A Synthesis of Findings From 17 Small Research Grants

  UNC Libraries · 2025-04-09

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Health information systems rely on high-quality data to measure, track, and inform decision making. Currently, the quality, uptake, and use of family planning data in routine health information systems is limited, presenting an opportunity for improvement on many levels. The current synthesis assessed findings from 17 small grants that MEASURE Evaluation issued to low- and middle-income country research teams between 2015 and 2019. Main findings from that research were collaboratively categorized in 4 major themes: (1) the enabling environment for managing and using family planning information; (2) barriers to integration of family planning in routine health information systems; (3) gaps in the analysis, interpretation, and use of routine family planning data; and (4) family planning data use in management, programmatic, and budgetary decisions. Data quality at the systemic, organizational, technical, and output levels was a crosscutting theme. Collectively, the findings outline barriers to and opportunities for improved integration of family planning data and subsequent strengthening of routine health information systems.

  PublisherDOI

• Counseling on injectable contraception and HIV risk: Evaluation of a pilot intervention in Tanzania

  UNC Libraries · 2025-04-09

  articleOpen access

  In a context of high rates of HIV prevalence, concerns over hormonal contraceptive use and the potential for increased risk of HIV acquisition have led to increased attention to counseling messages, particularly for users of the injectable. However, the consequence of adding additional HIV risk messages to family planning counseling sessions was not well understood. This evaluation assessed the effect of providing revised injectable and HIV risk counseling messages on contraceptive knowledge and behavior during a three month pilot intervention. The pilot intervention was conducted September-November 2018 with all eligible family planning clients in ten healthcare facilities located in the Iringa and Njombe regions of Tanzania. Data collection for the evaluation occurred November-December 2018 and included 471 client exit interviews, 26 healthcare provider interviews, and the extraction of service statistics for 12 months prior to the intervention and three months of the intervention. Univariate and bivariate analyses were used to assess quantitative interview data. Thematic qualitative assessment was used to assess qualitative interview data from healthcare providers. Interrupted time series analysis was used to assess changes in the trend of contraceptive uptake. Results indicate that the counseling messages did not cause a decrease in the uptake of injectables (Depo-Provera): 97 percent of interviewed clients received Depo-Provera at their visit; sixty percent reported an intention to use condoms for dual protection. The analysis of service statistics showed no statistical difference in the trend of Depo-Provera uptake between the pre-intervention and intervention periods (p = 0.116). Overall knowledge of counseling messages by clients was good; however only 64.8% of women correctly responded that women at risk of getting HIV can use any method of family planning. Providers' knowledge of the messages was high, though it appears that not all messages were consistently provided during the counseling sessions. The findings from this evaluation provide evidence that complex HIV counseling messages can be implemented in family planning programs in Tanzania, and potentially in other countries that are considering how to better integrate HIV risk messages into family planning counseling.

  PublisherDOI

• Association between physical intimate partner violence and postpartum contraceptive use in the United States–evidence from PRAMS 2016–2021

  UNC Libraries · 2025-01-07

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Objective Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) continues to be a major global public health concern, impacting physical and psychological well-being of individuals, including their reproductive and sexual health. The objective of this study is to examine the association between physical intimate partner violence and the utilization of contraception during the postpartum period in the United States. Method This study used data from the CDC’s Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System (PRAMS) survey study phase 8, covering 2016–2021. The sample included 165,204 women reporting physical IPV during pregnancy or 12 months before their last pregnancy and their postpartum contraceptive use. Descriptive, bivariate, and logistic regressions were used to analyze the relationship between IPV and postpartum contraceptive use, adjusting for relevant factors and addressing sampling weights. Results The study found a 3.2% prevalence of physical IPV, with state variances ranging from 2.2% to 5.5%. Among women who experienced physical IPV, 91.0% used contraception, compared to 94.5% of those who did not experience physical IPV. Experiencing physical IPV significantly decreased the likelihood of using any postpartum contraceptive method by 42% (aOR: 0.58; 95% CI: 0.48–0.70) compared to those who did not experience physical IPV during the same period, after adjusting for covariates. Factors that increased the probability of using contraception during the postpartum period included women’s higher educational attainment, being married or cohabitating, being employed anytime during pregnancy, and having an unintended last pregnancy. Conclusion This study highlights the significant association between physical IPV and reduced use of postpartum contraception in the United States. It calls for the integration of IPV considerations into public health policies and clinical initiatives to improve maternal well-being.

  PublisherDOI