Older teen perceptions on access to contraceptive healthcare: Focus group findings from Gaston County North Carolina

Efforts to reduce teen pregnancy and birth need to focus on older teens, age 18-19. In 2012, 71% of U.S. teen births were to women age 18-19. The 2012 U.S. birth rate for women age 18-19 is 51.4 per 1,000 compared to 14.1 per 1,000 for teens age 15-17. Although older teens account for the majority of teen births, few efforts have addressed teen pregnancy prevention among this specific population.  The Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Campaign of North Carolina (APPCNC) is one of nine demonstration sites for The President’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative. APPCNC works in partnership with Gaston County North Carolina to implement this multi-component, community-wide demonstration project. Similar to many counties in the southeastern U.S., the 2012 Gaston County 18-19 birth rate is 73.2, 42% higher than the national rate. This session will present findings from a series of four focus groups with 21 Gaston County females age 18-19 conducted July-August 2013.  The purpose of the focus groups was to learn older teen perceptions on access to contraceptive healthcare services. Focus group questions included: how older teens learn about contraceptive healthcare; perceptions on why some older teens do not use contraceptive healthcare; attitudes toward the county health department; and input on strategies to reach their peers. This session will present the focus group sampling method, analysis approach, and results. This session will discuss how the project team have used the findings to inform strategies to reduce Gaston older teen pregnancy and birth.