Training of Roma Health Mediators in Reproductive Health

• Fertility awareness methods may be appropriate for women:
o Who will not or cannot use other methods for personal or religious reasons
o Who have conditions that are a precaution for hormonal or other methods
o For whom using a more effective method is not crucial (the woman can accept a
pregnancy)
b) BARRIER METHODS (60 minutes)
Introduce barrier methods by explaining that we will focus on male condoms and
spermicides. Although there are other barrier methods (female condoms, diaphragms,
vaginal sponges and cervical caps), they are mentioned for interest, but not in detail since
they are not currently available. Training must prepare health mediators to assist persons
in the community to understand available methods.
1. Male condom (50 minutes)
Hold up a male condom and ask participants what it is. Give the condom to the first
participant on your right side and ask about her feelings, reactions towards this method;
after the first person has expressed her point of view, she will pass it on to the neighbor
on her right and so on until all participants have had the opportunity to state their
opinions regarding the condom.
[Note: Pay attention to the trainees’ non-verbal messages during this exercise; it helps
you to identify their attitudes towards the condom].
Distribute to each participant a card containing a “step” in the effective use of condoms
(use the Trainer document Steps for effective use of condom – cards).
Ask participants to get up from their chairs and to arrange themselves in a circle
representing the logical steps for using a condom.
[Note: If the number of trainees does not correspond to the number of cards, you might
ask them to work in small groups; each group receives a set of cards and they will place
the cards in the proper order within their group. At the end of the exercise, each group
will present their results and participants will compare them with the results of the other
groups.]
At the end of the exercise, demonstrate the use of the condom, following the participants’
indications. Lead participants through a discussion correcting the steps and then do the
demonstration based on the correct sequence of steps, using the trainer document
Condom Demonstration (and a banana, if available).
Pair off participants. Provide packets of condoms to each pair and ask them to practice
demonstrating the correct use of condoms. During practice, one participant should act as
a mediator and the other as a person from the community. Then they should switch roles.
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RFHI/JSI Romania Training of RHMs in Reproductive Health Session 4: FP Methods