Risk made real: A case-based approach to addressing risk in contraception

Half of US pregnancies each year are unintended, primarily because individuals fail to correctly and consistently use effective contraceptive methods. Healthcare providers are reluctant to discuss the range of birth control options currently available with patients due to time restraints, education gaps, or clinical misperceptions. Patients are hesitant to explore all appropriate hormonal and non-hormonal methods due to lack of knowledge and fears about risk perpetuated by culture and the media. Significant gaps in provider training on contraceptive methods combine with cognitive biases and incorrect assumptions to negatively impact patient care. Intrauterine devices are one of the most effective reversible methods available, providing safe, “forgettable” contraception for 5 – 10 years. Yet IUDs are among the most underutilized contraceptive methods due to a lack of provider confidence and competence with insertion and ongoing myths about appropriate IUD candidates. As healthcare options expand with recent IOM decisions about recommended women's preventative services, the reproductive landscape is becoming even more complex while new and established technologies remain under media, regulatory, and political scrutiny. These factors contribute to the difficult challenge of provider-patient communication.

ARHP has worked for decades to ensure that health care providers and consumers have accurate information about and access to all safe, effective contraceptive options in an effort to reduce continued high rates of unintended pregnancy, and the barriers that surround these methods. ARHP will implement a multifaceted educational program to help providers and their patients do a better job of interpreting the scientific literature and understanding contraceptive risk.