Efforts to reduce unintended pregnancies and STDs in Vermont have focused nearly exclusively on women. It is past time to involved their partners in decision making about birth control and disease prevention.
But both male involvement programs and rural social marketing campaigns having to do with sexual health face their own specific challenges. We heard cautionary tales of "male responsibility" campaigns perceived by their target audience to truly mean "male irresponsibility," as if, in the world of family planning, men are the problems that need to be fixed. In addition, small, rural communities don't universally welcome messages about sexual health. (And we did indeed encounter some political resistance).
It was within this environment that the Vermont Department of Health and Planned Parenthood of Northern New England developed a program to increase the involvement of men ages 18-24 in reproductive health care in five counties of the state where the rate of teen births was not declining. Through a three-year grant from Title X family planning funds, a classic social marketing approach is being used to develop a customer-based program to specifically address the needs of young men in this region. A multi-pronged series of interventions based on research data is underway.
This session will discuss the program after two years of research, planning, and implementation. We will specifically discuss lessons learned with the men who are our target audience and how we countered resistance to the campaign.
Learning Objectives: 1 - Articulate the elements of a social marketing campaign 2 - Understand how to create a customer-based program for men in reproductive health 3 - Discuss how to counter the resistance often associated with sexual health programs in communities
Keywords: Male Reproductive Health, Condom Use
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: Vermont Department of Health
Planned Parenthood of Northern New England
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: employment at Planned Parenthood of Northern New England; grantee of Vermont Department of Health