Adolescents in El Salvador lack comprehensive reproductive and sexual health (RSH) education, a basic health right. The curriculum presently used in schools is limited and inexact, and only 5.5% of teachers have been trained in it. Comprehensive RSH education optimizes the health and development of young adults. In 2012, a progressive Salvadoran government acknowledged and ...Read more >

We conducted a needs assessment with 31 women experiencing homelessness, 81% of whom also reported illicit substance use, in San Francisco from December 2017 – March 2018, and found that a majority of participants would be happy if they found out they were pregnant today. Among women surveyed at a street encampment, one-third used no ...Read more >

Over the last several decades, public health researchers and practitioners have partnered to improve population health by combating stigma around multiple health issues through mass media interventions. Examples include harm reduction campaigns to combat stigma around substance use disorder, HIV, and mental health service utilization. However, to date, no large- scale domestic mass media campaign ...Read more >

In today’s media environment, the internet is often the first source the public turns to for information and perspectives on abortion. This information, found in multimedia formats, is shared by a variety of sources and accessed through diverse platforms. Despite the obvious importance of the web as an information source, evaluating the presence of abortion ...Read more >

In the proposed study, the researchers will broadly examine the unmet family planning (FP) needs in Appalachia, in the context of the opioid epidemic, from the perspectives of women throughout the region. Results from focus groups conducted with regional providers and stakeholders will inform the design of an electronic survey administered to Appalachian women of ...Read more >

The goal of our interdisciplinary project is to bring together researchers from three distinct fields—epidemiology, psychology, and medicine—to illuminate the experiences of sexual minorities who have had a teen pregnancy. We began a qualitative study with sexual minority women in Phase I of this grant, during which time we secured institutional review board approval, developed ...Read more >

Objectives: This multi-phase study aimed to identify barriers and facilitators to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) care, and assess knowledge, attitudes, and experiences related to family planning for transgender, non-binary, and gender-expansive (TGE) people assigned female at birth (AFAB). Methods: Together with a community advisory team, we developed an affirming and customizable electronic survey of ...Read more >

Abortion patients are often unable to access contraceptive information and methods, due primarily to policies that restrict funding and insurance coverage as well as the separation of abortion from other types of healthcare. The ability of providers to deliver quality contraceptive services in abortion care has become even more constrained in the post-Dobbs landscape, with ...Read more >

Prior to the Dobbs decision, studies reported that the majority of patients seeking abortion care were interested in initiating a contraceptive method at their abortion visit. However, not all patients were able to obtain a method, particularly those experiencing economic hardships. Information on post-abortion contraceptive preferences following Dobbs is lacking, and preferences among pregnant people ...Read more >

Contraceptive coercion and self-protection from racism are previously described experiences of Black and Latinx patients when receiving abortion care. Contraceptive coercion at the time of abortion is a reflection of a clinician’s desire to prevent repeat abortion, abortion stigma, and cultural and structural racism. Patients protect themselves from racism when engaging with reproductive health care ...Read more >