Increasing access to emergency contraception for Latina immigrants in the Bronx

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.