Integrating male reproductive health services: One university health clinic story

Attending college/university opens a new chapter in a young man's life, and with it comes new experiences and freedoms. Young adult males in particular are prone to risky behaviors as a result of peer pressure that can affect their health. Specifically, reproductive and sexual health is compromised in this age group.Young adult males have a knowledge deficit and naivety towards reproductive health and the important aspects that can affect their lives. Historically, reproductive health (RH) services have predominantly served women. Young men have significant reproductive health concerns, e.g., sexually transmitted infections (STI); male sexual health and behaviors directly affect their female partners' health, RH decisions about the preventing unintended pregnancies. DHHS Office of Family Planning (OFP), in partnership with five agencies and one research-coordinating center, has implemented a four-year a comprehensive service delivery model to increase the number of males accessing FP/RH services. This paper will describe a university site in western Massachusetts implementing male reproductive health in a university clinic. The service innovation model includes: 1) restructuring the clinic environment (physical setting, materials, and internet presence); 2) staff training; and 3) Campus outreach Data collected shows success in out/in reach contributing to substantial increase of men utilizing the clinic for reproductive health purposes. The key lessons learned are: (1) Changes in clinic environment and staff training are essential, (2) Reaching young men requires creative innovations and activity geared interventions, and (3) focused outreach were more successful than campus wide outreach.