Perceptions of the Zika Virus, Contraceptive Access, and Motivation to Participate in the Zika Contraception Access Network Program: Qualitative Analysis of Focus-group Discussions with Puerto Rican Women

Details

• Alternative Title:
  P R Health Sci J
• Personal Author:
  Romero, Lisa ; Acosta-Pérez, Edna ; Bednar, Hailey ; Hurst, Stacey ; Zapata, Lauren B. ; Torres, Samaris Vega ; Powell, Rachel ; Lathrop, Eva
• Description:
  Objective:
  
  During the 2016–2017 Zika virus outbreak in Puerto Rico, the Zika Contraception Access Network (Z-CAN) provided client-centered contraceptive counseling and access to the full range of reversible contraceptive methods at no cost to prevent unintended pregnancies and thereby to reduce Zika-related birth outcomes.
  
  Methods:
  
  To understand how Puerto Rican women’s perceptions of the Zika virus affected contraceptive decisions and assess how they heard about the Z-CAN program and what influenced their participation, or lack thereof, 24 focus-group discussions were conducted among women of reproductive age who did and did not participate in Z-CAN.
  
  Results:
  
  Women who participated in the discussions often had heard about Z-CAN from their physician or friends; non-participants had heard about Z-CAN from Facebook or friends. Women expressed satisfaction on finding a Z-CAN clinic and valued the same-day provision of contraceptives. When a preferred contraceptive method or a first appointment was not readily available, women reconsidered accessing the program. Women’s perceptions and trust of reproductive healthcare providers, their engagement in social networks, and their ability to choose a contraceptive method that best meets their needs can influence participation in contraception-access programs.
  
  Conclusions:
  
  Focus groups can be used to understand women’s knowledge of the Zika virus, barriers and facilitators to contraception access, and motivations for participation in the Z-CAN program.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Contraception Contraceptive Agents Female Health Services Accessibility Humans Motivation Pregnancy Zika Virus Zika Virus Infection
• Keywords:
  Emergency Preparedness Puerto Rico Zika
• Source:
  P R Health Sci J. 43(1):46-53
• Pubmed ID:
  38512761
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC11002974
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/ ; U54 GM133807/GM/NIGMS NIH HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  43
• Issue:
  1
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:7e5b0f0a598a0e3a169b4bba877e17de011481213668af17379a9e9f942a3fe0
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/154148/cdc_154148_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 78.41 KB ]