Adolescent pregnancy and childbirth is an important public health issue with many potential negative consequences that can have lifelong effects on both the mother and child. Women who become pregnant during their teenage years are less likely to seek regular prenatal care and are at an increased risk for medical complications, such as anemia, hypertension, and premature labor (Williams, 2015). Globally, in girls ages 15-19 years old, complications during pregnancy and childbirth are the second leading cause of death (World Health Organization [WHO], 2014). Just some of the social consequences of teen pregnancy include emotional problems, an increased risk of poverty, dependance on public assistance, school failure, or dropping out of school
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The role of the SBHC is to provide primary care services at no out-of-pocket cost including physical exams, sick visits, immunizations, chronic care management, health education, and behavioral health care to students during the school day as long as written parental consent is obtained. The SBHC is of great benefit in addressing some of the barriers to adolescent health care access such as difficulties with transportation, inability for parents to get time off of work for appointments, and financial barriers. Despite this increased ease of access to health care, decisions made by the West Warwick school board (WWSB) have prevented the prescribing, dispensing, or administration of all contraceptives to patients of the …show more content…
Preventative advice can be given but contraceptive prescriptions and abortion counseling are prohibited. According to Jessica Douglas, a nurse practitioner employed at the SBHC, representatives from THC have been active participants in WWSB meetings in effort to try to reverse this decision, but as of their most recent attempt, the school board has continued to vote against the proposal (J. Douglas, personal communication, October 28, 2016). Slight progress has been made, as the SBHC was recently able to get approval for a new poster campaign informing students of the availability of free birth control at THC’s main site, made possible through grant money from the federal Title X Family Planning program. Unfortunately, this still leaves a large barrier in contraceptive access, teen pregnancy prevention, and the prevention of STDs in the community. Very few of the students referred out end up going to the off-site clinic, and about half of those teens don’t show up for their
The role of the SBHC is to provide primary care services at no out-of-pocket cost including physical exams, sick visits, immunizations, chronic care management, health education, and behavioral health care to students during the school day as long as written parental consent is obtained. The SBHC is of great benefit in addressing some of the barriers to adolescent health care access such as difficulties with transportation, inability for parents to get time off of work for appointments, and financial barriers. Despite this increased ease of access to health care, decisions made by the West Warwick school board (WWSB) have prevented the prescribing, dispensing, or administration of all contraceptives to patients of the …show more content…
Preventative advice can be given but contraceptive prescriptions and abortion counseling are prohibited. According to Jessica Douglas, a nurse practitioner employed at the SBHC, representatives from THC have been active participants in WWSB meetings in effort to try to reverse this decision, but as of their most recent attempt, the school board has continued to vote against the proposal (J. Douglas, personal communication, October 28, 2016). Slight progress has been made, as the SBHC was recently able to get approval for a new poster campaign informing students of the availability of free birth control at THC’s main site, made possible through grant money from the federal Title X Family Planning program. Unfortunately, this still leaves a large barrier in contraceptive access, teen pregnancy prevention, and the prevention of STDs in the community. Very few of the students referred out end up going to the off-site clinic, and about half of those teens don’t show up for their