Description
Unintended adolescent pregnancy has been a public health challenge in the United States for several decades, the U.S. continues to be the leader in adolescent pregnancy rates compared to other developed countries. Since the early 2000s, many organizations have promoted tiered-effectiveness contraceptive counseling with a large emphasis being placed on removing barriers to accessing long-acting reversible contraceptives (LARCs). Because of this, tiered-effectiveness counseling has become synonymous with LARC-first counseling. Contraceptive care leaders have vocally raised concerns about the harm associated with this type of counseling, and there is now a movement to transition to person-centered contraceptive counseling. Generations of clinicians were trained under tiered-effectiveness methods and still focus on a LARC-first counseling and often primary care pediatricians are hesitant to offer other contraceptive options. This presentation will: 1) discuss the history of reproductive justice and tiered-effectiveness counseling; 2) review the basic tenets of patient-centered counseling surrounding contraceptive options; and 3) offer case scenarios as a means for attendees to practice person-centered counseling for contraceptive care and identify their own inherent biases regarding contraceptive counseling.
This presentation will not only provide timely and important information for offering best practices regarding contraceptive counseling, but it will also provide an opportunity for attendees to practice these skills first-hand and discuss challenging scenarios that may arise in clinic.