Empowering Reproductive Health & Access to Enhance College Student Well-Being: A Mixed Methods Community Engaged Proposal
This study is a proposal developed in response to the need for the expansion of reproductive health services in institutions of higher education. College-age young adults in the age group of 18 to 24 are particularly vulnerable to unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections, and participate in risky behaviors such as alcohol usage and illicit drug consumption which can increase the likelihood of unsafe sexual behaviors. Reproductive healthcare access is linked to academic success, improved health outcomes, and holistic well-being. The proposal utilizes a community-engaged socioecological approach to create a roadmap and implementation plan to expand reproductive services and access to the student community at a public college in an urban area in Massachusetts. Based on the state provided Medication Abortion Readiness Plan, the research proposal seeks to use a mixed-methods approach combining quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis techniques. The formal recommendation for the college is a three-part collection of initial data to establish the framework for the implementation plan. This includes a quantitative cross-sectional survey to capture a wide range of data of the student body including sociodemographic factors, sexual behaviors, contraceptive use, access to reproductive care services, and knowledge of sexual health resources. The next components are qualitative focus group discussions to gain an understanding of in-depth insights into student reproductive care access, and the last component are key informant interviews to obtain valuable insights from institutional stakeholders and experts in the provision of reproductive health services within educational settings. These findings would extend the literature of assessing reproductive health access in higher education, provide a potential model to expand access to students, and can have profound implications for college campuses nationally to achieve reproductive health equity and enhance student well-being.
abortion access, college, community, health equity, mixed methods, reproductive health, Higher Education, Public Health
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