Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

Abstract #154745

• Slides (pdf) or Handout

Haydée Morales, MA¹, Marissa Billowitz, MA¹, Jacqueline Hart, PhD², and Amanda Perez, MPH³. (1) Education and Training Department, Planned Parenthood of New York City, 26 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10012, 212-274-7363, haydee.morales@ppnyc.org, (2) Research and Evaluation, Planned Parenthood of New York City, 26 Bleecker Street, New York, New York, NY 10012, (3) Planned Parenthood of New York City, 349 East 149th Street, 3rd floor, Bronx, NY 10451

Planned Parenthood of New York City (PPNYC) is conducting a targeted education and outreach initiative in order to improve awareness of and access to emergency contraception (EC) among immigrant populations. In the first year of the program, PPNYC sought to reach out to recent Dominican and Mexican immigrants in the Bronx. The program encompassed distribution of Plan B on PPNYC's Mobile Medical Unit, message and materials development, training of PPNYC clinical and education staff, training and technical assistance for Bronx-based CBOs, and outreach through workshops and materials distribution.

As part of message and materials development, PPNYC conducted focus groups with recently arrived Mexican and Dominican women in the South Bronx and CBO staff that work with them. The research explored Mexican and Dominican women's knowledge and concerns about EC and examined messages that address barriers to seeking and using EC. This process identified concerns about safety, effectiveness, cost, accessibility, and confusion with the “abortion pill.” The process also revealed that beliefs about pregnancy and hormonal contraception may affect use of EC, and that women rely on friends and other women to access reproductive health care. In Spring 2007, PPNYC will have conducted similar research with recently arrived Anglophone Caribbean and Mexican immigrant women in Brooklyn in order to develop tailored messages for that community. This presentation will explore the findings and messages from focus groups with these communities share materials developed based on those findings.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe effective efforts to promote access to emergency contraception for Latina immigrants.
• Articulate up-to-date information about EC policies that affect immigrant access.
• Identify ways to integrate culturally appropriate messages about EC into SRH work.

Keywords: Latino Health, Immigrant Women

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No
Any institutionally-contracted trials related to this submission?

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

• Slides (pdf) or Handout