Results Most interventions combined microfinance with health education , which demonstrated positive effects on health knowledge and behaviours , though not health status .
Interventions combining multiple health components in a given study demonstrated positive effects , though it was unclear which component was driving the effect .
Discussion Integrated microfinance and health education programs were effective , though longer intervention periods are necessary to measure more complex pathways to health status .
The effect of microfinance combined with other health components was less clear .
Background Solutions delivered within firm sectoral boundaries are inadequate in achieving income security and better health for poor population s.  Integrated microfinance and health interventions leverage networks of women to promote financial inclusion , build livelihoods , and safeguard against high cost illnesses .
Our underst and ing of the effect of integrated interventions has been limited by variability in intervention , outcome , design , and method ological rigour .
This systematic review synthesis es the literature through 2015 to underst and the effect of  integrated microfinance and health programs .
Microcredit, Family Planning Programs, and Contraceptive Behavior: Evidence From a Field Experiment in Ethiopia
The impact of community-based family planning programs and access to credit on contraceptive use , fertility , and family size preferences has not been established conclusively in the literature . We provide additional evidence on the possible effect of such programs by describing the results of a r and omized field experiment whose main purpose was to increase the use of contraceptive methods in rural areas of Ethiopia . In the experiment , administrative areas were r and omly allocated to one of three intervention groups or to a fourth control group . In the first intervention group , both credit and family planning services were provided and the credit officers also provided information on family planning . Only credit or family planning services , but not both , were provided in the other two intervention groups , while areas in the control group received neither type of service . Using pre- and post-intervention surveys , we find that neither type of program , combined or in isolation , led to an increase in contraceptive use that is significantly greater than that observed in the control group . We conjecture that the lack of impact has much to do with the mismatch between women ’s preferred contraceptive method ( injectibles ) and the contraceptives provided by community-based agents ( pills and condoms )
Results Most interventions combined microfinance with health education , which demonstrated positive effects on health knowledge and behaviours , though not health status .
Interventions combining multiple health components in a given study demonstrated positive effects , though it was unclear which component was driving the effect .
Discussion Integrated microfinance and health education programs were effective , though longer intervention periods are necessary to measure more complex pathways to health status .
The effect of microfinance combined with other health components was less clear .
Background Solutions delivered within firm sectoral boundaries are inadequate in achieving income security and better health for poor population s.  Integrated microfinance and health interventions leverage networks of women to promote financial inclusion , build livelihoods , and safeguard against high cost illnesses .
Our underst and ing of the effect of integrated interventions has been limited by variability in intervention , outcome , design , and method ological rigour .
This systematic review synthesis es the literature through 2015 to underst and the effect of  integrated microfinance and health programs .