Increasing Linkage to Family Planning Care for Individuals With Substance Use Disorder

This study will utilize mixed methods to develop and assess the feasibility and acceptability of a health educator intervention designed to connect patients in recovery from substance use disorder to reproductive health education and services.

Developing effective reproductive health interventions for individuals in treatment for substance use disorder is an important public health priority. In the US nearly half (45%) of all pregnancies are unplanned and studies have consistently found this rate to be much higher among individuals in substance treatment, almost 90%. There is a paucity of research on interventions to support the family planning care of this population. The primary goal of this project is to identify an innovative delivery model to address the family planning needs of individuals of reproductive age in treatment for substance use disorder at an urban integrated safety-net health system. Through the use of mixed methods this study will address the following objectives: 1) To describe the family planning experiences and needs of individuals in treatment for substance use disorders (SUD) in a representative sample of patients and 2) To assess the feasibility and acceptability of the intervention among study participants. If found to be acceptable, efficacy should be assessed in a randomized controlled trial. A navigator model such as this is generalizable and could be easily integrated into a variety of settings.