Nathan Hale, Director of Research for the East Tennessee State University College of Public Health’s Center for Applied Research and Evaluation (CARE) in Women’s Health, is lead author of an article in JAMA Network Open. The article is titled, “Contraceptive Method Use among a Population-Based Cohort during the South Carolina Choose Well Initiative.”
Jusung Lee, Jordan de Jong, Michael Smith and Amal Khoury, faculty in CARE Women’s Health, are co-authors. The article was featured in an issue of Contemporary OB/GYN.
The CARE Women’s Health team has been examining the role of statewide contraceptive access initiatives in expanding access to reproductive health services among diverse population groups. While previous evaluations of contraceptive access initiatives have examined their impact on specific population subgroups (e.g., Title X clinic patients), this study is unique in examining the impact of statewide initiatives on a population-based cohort of women of reproductive age composed of diverse groups. The findings provide evidence that the South Carolina Choose Well initiative was associated with the increased use of contraceptive methods with historical clinical and financial barriers to access.
Choose Well is the first and only contraceptive access initiative in the U.S. Southeast. The initiative seeks to fill access gaps and increase provision of a full range of services through engagement with health care organizations across the state in provider training, capacity building, infrastructure and other supports. The implementation design and evaluation methodology were previously published in the American Journal of Public Health: South Carolina’s Choose Well Initiative to Reduce Unintended Pregnancy: Rationale, Implementation Design, and Evaluation Methodology | AJPH | Vol. 112 Issue S5 (aphapublications.org)
ETSU’s evaluation of Choose Well will focus next on the impact of the initiative on population health outcomes, such as adolescent births and unintended pregnancy.