| Summary: | The purpose of the study was to evaluate the impact of the Termination of Pregnancy (TOP)
programme in South Africa, using Mpumalanga as focal area, with the view of developing
guidelines to assist service providers in the implementation of the Choice on Termination of
Pregnancy (CTOP), Act 92 of 1996.
The study was conducted in two phases. In phase 1, a qualitative, quantitative, contextual,
explorative, descriptive and case study research design was utilised. The purpose was to
explore and describe TOP service providers and facility managers’ knowledge regarding the
CTOP Act, as well as their experiences and feelings regarding TOP provision, and the feelings
and experiences of health care consumers utilising TOP services. Records of attendance
regarding the utilisation of the services were also reviewed. Data was collected using
unstructured and semi-structured interviews.
Phase 2 of the study focused on the development of guidelines to assist in the translation of the
CTOP Act to action at service level. The findings revealed that although the TOP programme
was operating within the reproductive health for women initiative, TOP service providers and
facility managers were not knowledgeable on other legislation that supports the CTOP Act to
integrate its implementation. All the participants experienced emotional, physical and
psychological discomfort in providing TOP services. Lack of support of the programme also
posed a major challenge. These findings formed the basis for the development of the
guidelines. === Health Studies === (D.Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies))
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