Financial Barriers to Expanded Birth Center Access in New Jersey: A Qualitative Thematic Analysis.

Introduction: Birth centers are an underused care setting with potential to improve birth experience and satisfaction. Both hospital-based and freestanding birth centers operate with the midwifery model of care that focuses on safe, low-intervention physiologic birth experiences for healthy, low-risk pregnant people. However, financial barriers limit freestanding birth center sustainability and accessibility in New Jersey, especially for traditionally marginalized populations.

HPV Vaccination Information Access, Needs, and Preferences Among Black and Hispanic Mothers.

HPV-associated cancer disparities disproportionately affect Black/African American and Hispanic individuals in the U.S. HPV vaccination, which can prevent many HPV-associated cancers, should be clearly recommended by pediatricians to parents of adolescents aged 9-12, yet uptake and completion remain lower than other adolescent vaccinations.

Mothers' perceptions and attitudes about HPV vaccination initiation among 9- and 10-year-olds.

HPV vaccination has potential to prevent 90% of HPV-associated cancers. The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommends HPV vaccination for 11- and 12-year-olds, but vaccine initiation can start at age 9. The purpose of this study was to explore perceptions about starting HPV vaccination at a younger age to inform future interventions that promote initiation at ages 9 and 10 years.

Keeping the 'C' in CBPR: Exploring Community Researchers' Experiences with Human Subjects Protection Training Requirements.

Community-engaged research is increasingly recognized for its potential to advance health equity. The ability to conduct such research in the United States is predicated on the completion of human subjects protection courses; however, prior studies suggest that many of these required courses may not adequately accommodate the varied skillsets and backgrounds of community members involved with carrying out research. The present study explores community researchers' (CRs') experiences with a human subjects protection course frequently required by U.

Parents' Intentions, Concerns and Information Needs about COVID-19 Vaccination in New Jersey: A Qualitative Analysis.

Background: In 2019, the World Health Organization identified vaccine hesitancy as a top ten global health threat, which has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite local and nationwide public health efforts, adolescent COVID-19 vaccination uptake in the US remains low. This study explored parents' perceptions of the COVID-19 vaccine and factors influencing hesitancy to inform future outreach and education campaigns.

Adolescents' Receipt of Sex Education in a Nationally Representative Sample, 2011-2019.

Purpose: Updated estimates of adolescents' receipt of sex education are needed to monitor trends and potential inequities.

Methods: Using nationally representative data from the 2011-2015 and 2015-2019 National Survey of Family Growth, we use logistic regression to examine changes in the receipt of formal sex education by gender. For 2015-2019, we estimate patterns by gender and race/ethnicity for content, timing, and location of instruction.

Pleasure and Sex Education: The Need for Broadening Both Content and Measurement.

Sex education in the United States is limited in both its content and the measures used to collect data on what is taught. The risk-reduction framework that guides the teaching of sex education in the United States focuses almost exclusively on avoiding unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, overlooking other critical topics such as the information and skills needed to form healthy relationships and content related to sexual pleasure.Young people express frustration about the lack of information on sexuality and sexual behavior that is included in sex education programs; sexual and gender minority youths, in particular, feel overlooked by current approaches.

Contraceptive counseling practices and patient experience: Results from a cluster randomized controlled trial at Planned Parenthood.

Objectives: Systematic reviews of contraceptive counseling interventions have shown inconsistent impact on patient outcomes. The current study assessed the effects of an evidence-informed contraceptive counseling staff training intervention on patient experience, contraceptive selection, and behavior over three months of follow-up.

Study Design: We randomly assigned 10 Planned Parenthood health centers in the Southeastern US to intervention (staff received contraceptive counseling training) and control (usual counseling) groups.

The Influence of Technology Delivery Mode on Intervention Outcomes: Analysis of a Theory-Based Sexual Health Program.

Background: There are few studies on the role of technology delivery mode on health intervention outcomes. Furthermore, the opportunity to examine potential mode effects on a program that is theory-based and integrates principles of communication and decision-making science to influence sexual and reproductive health outcomes is a new contribution to the literature.

Objective: Planned Parenthood Federation of America's national Chat/Text program can be accessed via short message service (SMS; more commonly referred to as text messaging), Web-based desktop chatting, and mobile phone chatting.

Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage: An Updated Review of U.S. Policies and Programs and Their Impact.

Adolescence is marked by the emergence of human sexuality, sexual identity, and the initiation of intimate relations; within this context, abstinence from sexual intercourse can be a healthy choice. However, programs that promote abstinence-only-until-marriage (AOUM) or sexual risk avoidance are scientifically and ethically problematic and-as such-have been widely rejected by medical and public health professionals. Although abstinence is theoretically effective, in actual practice, intentions to abstain from sexual activity often fail.

Parents' views on sex education in schools: How much do Democrats and Republicans agree?

More than 93 percent of parents place high importance on sex education in both middle and high school. Sex education in middle and high school is widely supported by parents regardless of their political affiliation. Using data from a large diverse sample of 1,633 parents of children aged 9 to 21 years, we examined whether views on sex education differed by parents' political affiliation.

Meeting the Needs of Sexual and Gender Minority Youth: Formative Research on Potential Digital Health Interventions.

Purpose: Sexual and gender minority youth (SGMY) have unique risk factors and worse health outcomes than their heterosexual and cisgender counterparts. SGMY's significant online activity represents an opportunity for digital interventions. To help meet the sex education and health needs of SGMY and to understand what they consider important, formative research was conducted to guide and inform the development of new digital health interventions.

Potential for using online and mobile education with parents and adolescents to impact sexual and reproductive health.

Research supports the central role of parents in the sexual health behaviors and outcomes of their adolescent children. Too often, parents and adolescents with the greatest sexual health disparities are difficult to reach and engage in preventative interventions. Online and mobile technologies (OMTs) represent an innovative opportunity to reach large numbers of youth and their parents.

An assessment of the GYT: Get Yourself Tested campaign: an integrated approach to sexually transmitted disease prevention communication.

Background: Youth in the United States bear a disproportionate burden of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Stigma, misconceptions, and access challenges keep many from getting tested or treated. The GYT: Get Yourself Tested campaign was launched in 2009 to reduce stigma and promote STD communication and testing.

Using chat and text technologies to answer sexual and reproductive health questions: Planned Parenthood pilot study.

Background: Teens and young adults in the United States are in need of sexual and reproductive health information, as evidenced by elevated rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), pregnancy, and births among this population. In-person sexuality education programs are helpful, but they are unlikely to rapidly accommodate teens and young adults in a moment of crisis. Evidence suggests that technologies such as instant messaging (IM) and text messaging may be effective ways to provide teens and young adults with sexual and reproductive health information.

Abstinence-only programs implemented under welfare reform are incompatible with research on effective sexuality education.

Abstinence-only-until-marriage education programs receive more than $100 million annually in government funds, most of it stemming from the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. There is currently no evidence that any of these programs, which promote sexual abstinence and restrict information about contraception, actually achieve their intended purposes. On the other hand, there is ample evidence that comprehensive sexuality education programs, which include information about both abstinence and contraception, can be effective.