Managers can promote teamwork and communication between units, empower staff to innovate, and reward good-quality work. Front-line providers and supervisors, given the opportunity, can improve processes and increase efficiency. Whether quality improvement efforts start at the top or at the grass roots, ultimately they work best when the entire oganization, including support and management functions, is involved. Every program can improve quality. No matter what its scale, budget, or cultural setting, every program can take steps toward better quality.
Improvements often can be simple and inexpensive, such as hanging a curtain to give clients privacy.
New Attention, New Resources Offering good quality of care has always been a goal of family planning programs. Now, worldwide attention to quality is producing new help for programs. This guidance helps national programs write science-based guidelines that promote quality and access. Continuing Commitment Making quality a top priority can require changes in goals, guidelines, attitudes, and activities that are difficult to make. Organizations typically do not change themselves overnight but rather one step at a time.