Helping People With Health Conditions Make Birth Control Decisions

The purpose of this project is to describe how contraceptive services are currently being delivered to women with medical conditions who seek care in community-based primary care settings, such as family medicine and internal medicine clinical offices.

This pilot study seeks to: 1\. To understand women's beliefs, attitudes, and experiences with contraception in context of their medical conditions, drug therapy, personal preferences, and current experiences in primary care. b. To describe provider- To describe provider- and practice-level factors that impact the delivery of contraceptive services in primary care. To seek the perspectives of multiple stakeholders: 1) women aged 18-50 with one or more medical conditions; and 2) practice members who consist of primary care providers (PCPs) and office staff (e.g. nurses, medical assistants, and administrative staff members). The specific objective of this formative, qualitative study is to identify key patient-, provider-, and practice-level factors that are critical to the delivery of contraceptive counseling and services to women with medical conditions. To accomplish these aims, qualitative data will be collected in clinical settings that currently provide primary care and family planning for reproductive-aged women with medical conditions. Data collected will be: 1) in-depth interviews with women with medical conditions and practice members; and 2) semi-structured observations of office activities and processes (e.g. patient check in, patient scheduling). Using rigorous qualitative mixed methods to collect and analyze data, a deeper understanding will be gained of factors that should be considered in the design and implementation of future interventions to improve contraceptive care for women with medical conditions in primary care.