Clinical Social Franchising: Summary Statistics
This document provides a brief summary of services delivered through social franchise programs in 2008. It will be updated annually.
Social Franchising
About
In the mid-1990s, a US-based NGO, Population Services International, determined that the best way to ensure uptake of the long-term family planning methods it was marketing was to organize and train the private practitioners providing those methods to patients, focusing on low-income neighborhoods. Thus, “social franchising” was born. Since then, the number of social franchises around the world has increased regularly, and the range of services supported by these franchises has expanded to include HIV/AIDS, TB, and malaria diagnosis and treatment, and a wide range of sexual and reproductive health services.
Social franchises use commercial franchising methods to achieve social rather than financial goals. Building upon existing expertise in poor communities, social franchises organize multiple, existing, private providers into contractually obligated networks. These franchisees are then trained and supported to provide new, or improved, services in addition to their normal patient treatment regimens. The goals of social franchises are, broadly, to improve quality and access to priority public health goods and services, affordably, and with the potential to rapidly increase the number of service delivery points. The appeal of social franchising to NGOs, and increasingly to governments and even private companies, is to rapidly provide public health services through a large number of existing practitioners by attracting them with training, technical support, subsidized goods, free advertising, and links to other providers and a brand that represents quality, accessibility, and affordability. New services increase the demand for the practitioners, while also increasing the availability of community-level services of high value to public health.
The GHG’s Role
The GHG serves as an external catalyst for the generation, interpretation, and dissemination of information related to social franchising operation and management. Through this effort, the GHG is documenting standards and protocols of social franchises, conducting and supporting case studies of programs, conducting operational research and supporting dissemination of research conducted by others, and advising on the design and analysis of franchise management information systems. The GHG seeks to provide technical support to franchise programs around the globe, on the condition that lessons learned be shared across all franchise implementers.
The GHG is working with implementers and other partners to develop a community of practice on social franchising worldwide. The documents below support this work.
Clinical Social Franchising: An Annual Compendium of Social Franchise Programs, 2009
The GHG has produced the first ever summary of information on clinical social franchise programs around the world. This document will be updated annually.
Social Franchising Case Study Series: BlueStar Ghana Marie Stopes International
This is the first in a series of case studies planned to compare the experiences of social franchises around the world. It provides a qualitative overview of the design and implementation of Marie Stopes International Ghana’s BlueStar franchise.