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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Lidia M. Carlton, MPH, Kathaleen C. Collins, MA, and Alysia Ransons, CHES. Health Education, Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties, 700 S. Tustin St., Orange, CA 92866, 714-922-4166, lcarlton@pposbc.org

The availability of timely, accurate reproductive health information is critical to the sexual health lives of teens and young adults. As a means to provide a confidential and timely resource for reproductive health education, Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties (PPOSBC) has maintained an anonymous reproductive health hotline for nearly seven years. Informal Internet searches and literature reviews yield results for other hotlines available that are topic specific (such as Herpes hotline), or have pre-recorded information. The PPOSBC hotline appears to be the only hotline that has a live operator available to address a range of reproductive health issues.

During the past seven years of operation, descriptive data has been collected through short surveys at the end of calls. There have been over 22,000 calls from over 200 different zip codes, with 60% completing the survey. Most callers are females between 17 and 24 years old. The major areas of interest are: medical center referrals (18%); emergency contraception (12%); the Pill (12%); pregnancy (9%); and abortion (8%).

We use these data as a cue to increase our outreach and education about available medical services, emergency contraception and hormonal methods of birth control. The hotline has also provides a direct link between risk awareness and medical services, which is valuable when working with young people who may be faced with barriers to service. Having this additional resource for youth and young adults empowers them with the knowledge to make the most informed choices regarding their sexual health.

Learning Objectives: