Bringing teens into the family planning clinic: The importance of diverse outreach strategies

In order to reduce unintended pregnancy among adolescents, effective outreach strategies are necessary to inform teens about the availability of family planning and reproductive health services in their communities and to assist them in accessing services. An evaluation of 21 clinics funded by the California Office of Family Planning to conduct outreach to at-risk youth to bring them into clinical services looked at the development, dissemination and impact of diverse outreach strategies. Surveys with youth receiving clinical services for the first time (N=2163) reveal that friends are the most common source of information about the clinic (mentioned by 60% of respondents). However, many youth report being influenced by more formal outreach messages such as school presentations (22%), conversations with clinic staff (14%), and flyers and brochures (6%) – with important distinctions by race/ethnicity and gender. As media, particularly web-based media, has become a greater influence on youth behavior, clinics have focused outreach efforts on this venue as a means to reach at-risk youth. In depth qualitative interviews with the 21 outreach programs reveal that clinics often complemented in-person outreach strategies with a wide range of media efforts, thereby allowing teens to take important information or messages home with them or to access them through teen-friendly venues (such as the internet). This study highlights successes and challenges in using diverse media methods, including printed brochures, flyers, and wallet cards, small incentives, websites, posters and print advertisements, and radio ads, to reach a larger teen audience and spread prevention messages even further.