Bringing Men Back: Does Provider Specialty Matter?

Healthy People 2010 Objective 9-6 aims to increase male involvement in pregnancy prevention and family planning efforts. However, retaining men in family planning programs continues to present challenges. California's family planning program, Family PACT, provides family planning services to low-income men through a diverse provider network that includes a variety of specialties, including primary care-oriented specialties (PC), such as Family Practice and Internal Medicine, as well as traditional women's health and family planning-focused sites (FP). To identify factors affecting men's retention, we examined data from a medical record review of services provided in 2005 to 254 men for whom the data captured their first visit with the provider. Sixty-two (62) men went to an FP site and 192 to a PC site. Of the 254 men, 45% did not return to their provider within 14 months. Controlling for race and age, men who returned to their provider were more likely to have visited a PC provider than an FP-oriented provider (OR 1.87, CI 1.03-3.39). Men who returned to PC-oriented sites were more likely to have the sites serve as their source of regular care than men who returned to FP-oriented sites (OR 4.9, CI 1.9-12.6). In conclusion, PC-oriented settings may have a greater potential for retaining men in family planning programs by providing more comprehensive services financed through a variety of funding streams. Provider sites where men's whole health needs are integrated may be a model for increasing male involvement in family planning.