Improving Women’s Health Services by Adding Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptive Methods into Primary Care-Focused Student Health

Often resulting from inconsistent contraceptive use, unintended pregnancy among young women between ages 18-24 continues to be an issue in the United States. Long-acting reversible contraceptives, including intrauterine contraceptives and the subdermal contraceptive implant, are safe, effective, long-acting, easily reversible, and non-user dependent contraceptive methods, yet currently are greatly underutilized. Most of the contraceptive methods are provided at our student health services except for the highly effective long-acting reversible contraceptive methods. As family nurse practitioners and health care providers, it is essential to integrate this service into primary care-focused college student health clinics by providing evidence-based information to clinical providers and clients to address the misconceptions regarding long-acting reversible contraceptive methods use. The purpose of this project is to propose the addition of the highly effective long-acting reversible contraceptive methods to improve health care services at the Student Health and Counseling Services of California State University East Bay