Facilitative Supervision: a Vital Link in Quality Reproductive Health Service Delivery

AVSC defines facilitative supervision as an approach to supervision that emphasizes mentoring, joint problem solving, and two-way communication between the supervisor and those being supervised. This definition recognizes that supervisors play an essential role as intermediaries who can facilitate the implementation of institutional goals and who can facilitate local-level problem solving and quality improvement. The aim is to focus attention on a key concept of supervision, joint problem solving, and to remind us that traditional inspection alone is not conducive to helping sites achieve continuous quality improvement. Ideally, management facilitates quality improvement by involving service providers in identifying and resolving problems. This may involve reorientation of systems as well as individuals. [author’s description]