ePortfolio: Literature Review

Kiana D. Moore

Liberty University | HLTH 634

August 2, 2020 (Late)

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Introduction

Family planning is defined as “educational comprehensive medical or social activities

which enable individuals and couples, including minors, to freely anticipate and attain their

desired number of children and the spacing and timing of their birth.”1,2This also includes the

ability to select the means by which conception may be achieved, either through the use of

contraceptive methods and/or the treatment of involuntary infertility.1According to the Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention, family planning is one of the ten great public health

achievements of the twentieth century and its accomplishments can be compared to that of

vaccinations and advances in motor safety.1

Although family planning is imperative for our society, education and open

communication on this topic is severely lacking. With much research, it is evident that the issues

surrounding family planning can sprout at home and within the community. The health

communication program’s objectives address these issues and encompass several target goals for

the nation to reach to overcome them. Once we normalize the subjects of reproductive health and

family planning within homes and in the public with our adolescents, we can guide this

vulnerable population into learning reproductive health topics and begin to meet goals and

objectives.

To address the lack of adolescent knowledge of family planning and reproductive health

topics, the program’s proposed intervention is to partner with organizations Planned Parenthood

and The Fertility Advantage to create an educational series that is inclusive for adolescents.

These series could be attended fully online or in-person and would encompass several days of

‘talk about it’ conversations to help educate the youth. Furthermore, parents and other family

would be welcomed to attend as well. In cultures where young people report wanting

information from adult family members about sex and reproduction, educating parents and other
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family members can help adults feel more confident in addressing the reproductive health

questions and concerns of youth; this can improve contraceptive knowledge.3,4

Needed resources could be held in the form of forums at schools, conventions,

workshops, family sessions, and one-on-one trainings. Because of this, another intervention the

program would offer is in/after-school programs that address the topic of sexual health. These

sources would help mediate conversation and help get needed information to all parties.

To further study the effectiveness of the program's interventions, this literature review

will include references that describe the problem of communication and family planning among

adolescents and the practicability of using the program’s planned approaches for interventions.

The review is organized into three sections including ‘introduction’ (current section), which

identifies the problem in which the health communication program’s interventions will address;

‘body of evidence’, which will compare and contrast the references; ‘summary and conclusions’,

which will summarize main contributions and explain differences in results. The selection

criteria used to choose references included:

1. Containing supporting material for the need of the chosen interventions.

2. Peer-reviewed.

3. Government or professional reports.

4. Published within the last 8 years.

Body of Evidence

To compare and contrast selected references, I have grouped them by what they have in

common and into the following categories: case studies, theoretical and strategic, reviews,

policy, and informational. The first four categories contain peer-reviewed articles while the

informational category contains the government/professional reports.

Case Studies:
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In the article written by Wamoyi, Daneil and Remes, much evidence has suggested that

the characteristics of families, particularly parent-child relationships, have

major influence on teens lives and sexual decision-making.5Based on one study done

in Tanzania, Africa, research and results showed that parenting and family structure were found

to affect young people’s sexual behavior by influencing children’s self-confidence and

interactional competence, limiting discussion of sexual health, which in turn affected parental

authority and their teen daughters’ engagement in risky behavior.5Furthermore, Based on the

article by Breuner and the Committee on Adolescents and on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and

Family Health, the literature also states that the delivery of sexuality education is imperative as it

can be done within the home and can impact a teen in a positive or negative light. However, the

article also states that education can also be done in office with a Primary Care Providers and/or

in school and can also have these effects on teens as well.6 Both case studies reveal that other

clinical studies have shown that education on sexuality has overall helped prevent and reduce the

risks of STI’s, HIV, and teen pregnancy.5,6 These results provide support for the need of my

program’s intervention because many homes are affected by the events in Tanzania and evidence

has shown that education works but there is a lack of resources available. If we can normalize

conversations about sex within homes—starting with normalizing outside of the home—we can

begin to reverse the percentages in risky behaviors. It also verifies that the chosen delivery mode

of information will have a positive effect on the target audience.

Theoretical/Strategic:

In the narrative written by Jennifer Manlove and four other colleagues, men who have

children at younger ages were also more likely to have children with multiple partners, which is

still true today.7Moreover, 38% of young men reported not using condoms and more than half

relying on female methods such as birth control.7Two reasons why teen males aren’t using
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condoms are due to the lack of knowledge of safe sex practices and lack of resources to available

to receive that information. These statistics show that there is a high need for family planning

and reproductive health interventions within the reproductive age group of males.

In the review written by Salam and several others, they suggest that sexual and

reproductive health education, counseling, and contraceptive availability are effective in

increasing adolescent knowledge related to family planning.8They also stated that group-based

comprehensive risk reduction has been reported as an effective strategy to reduce adolescent

pregnancy, HIV, and STI’s.8Furthermore, the “Invited Commentary” article looks into gender

and family planning and finds that education is undermined by the exclusion and stigmatization

of LGBTQ youth, gender inequities, and stereotypes. 9Their research shows that greater

inclusiveness, more gender and economic equity, and freedom from harmful stereotypes, benefit

all youth and their sexual health.9Gender, heterosexual, economic and racial biases in sexual

health education leave youth without critical knowledge they need to make safer sexual choices.9

To continue, the reference “Effective Strategies...” listed that some available programs

that do not include adolescent-friendly improvements or use a combination of information

dissemination channels to promote demand/community acceptance.10This exemplifies the need

for carrying out multicomponent activities and integrating demand- and supply-side

interventions, of such that the program plans to provide.10

The review of research further provides support for the need of the program’s

intervention, the ‘Lets Talk About It seminars, because it solves the most prominent issue,

needing more resources of all-inclusive education and products and ease of accessibility.

Informational:

In three different publications written by California Courts, the World Health

Organization (WHO), and the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), the need
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for services regarding family planning and reproductive health were the center focus. Services

mentioned included client-centered productive health education and counseling, instruction in

pregnancy prevention, contraceptive counseling and methods, diagnosis and treatment of STI’s,

and treatment for infertility and complications resulting from previous family planning

procedures.11The uses of family planning prevents sexually transmitted infections for both men

and women, and further prevents pregnancy and pregnancy-related health risks for adolescent

girls.12However in the narrative published by WHO, “among the 1.9 billion women of the

reproductive age group (15 to 49 years old) worldwide in 2019, 1.1 billion have a need for

family planning; of these, 842 million are using contraceptive methods, and 270 million have an

unmet need for conception.”12Furthermore, the ICRW found that the unmet need for conception

among adolescents is greater than that of married women.13The review of the publications fully

provides support for the need of the program’s intervention because the intervention provides

adolescents with public and community-based resources to obtain these much-needed services,

all at no cost (which helps with financial health disparities).

The Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine (SAHM) shares many resources which

provide links to books, organizations, websites, and workshops that support adolescents and

parents with family planning objectives.14This proves that the needed resources are valuable

tools in sex education for teens.

Summary and Conclusions

In conclusion, the main contribution of each article is that family planning imperative for

our youth but education and resources are severely lacking and causes countless ripple effects

within many communities. With much research, it is evident that the issues surrounding family

planning begin with educating our youth. Geographical and other health disparities also effect

the availability of resources and services. Each reporting also concluded on the same idea that
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education on family planning will improve our youth's knowledge on reproductive and sexuality

health, which will overall aid in prevention of STI’s and unintended pregnancies.

For areas of future research, I would like to see authors research the long-term impacts of

having family planning knowledge sooner than later. This topic of interest was not addressed and

I believe it would be beneficial to study these effects as it would further enhance recent and

future studies that conclude family planning education is the key for prevention and preparation

among teens.

Overall, out of an approximate 42 million teens, only 1.2 percent of them practiced in the

prevention of unintended pregnancies. This is because many adolescents do not have the

education or resources regarding reproductive health and family planning. With the help of the

research findings, the program works to alleviate and meet the needs of family planning

education for the adolescent population by providing them with current and correct knowledge,

without using scare tactics, and providing multiple means of resources for teens seeking them.
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References

1. Butler A, Clayton E. Overview of Family Planning in the United States.

Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK215219/. Published 2009.

Accessed June 25, 2020.

2. Family Planning | Healthy People 2020. Healthypeople.gov.

https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/family-planning/objectives.

Published 2020. Accessed June 25, 2020

3. Involving Parents in Reproductive Health Education for Youth. Www2.pathfinder.org.

http://www2.pathfinder.org/pf/pubs/focus/IN%20FOCUS/inv_parents.htm. Accessed

June 26, 2020.

4. Akers, Aletha Y, et al. “Family Discussions about Contraception and Family Planning: a

Qualitative Exploration of Black Parent and Adolescent Perspectives.” Perspectives on

Sexual and Reproductive Health, U.S. National Library of Medicine.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2951274/. Published September 2010.

Accessed June 28, 2020.

5. The structural influence of family and parenting on young people's sexual and

reproductive health in rural northern Tanzania. Taylor & Francis.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13691058.2014.992044?scroll=top&need

Access=true. Published 2015. Accessed June 26, 2020.

6. Breuner CC, Mattson G, Committee On Adolescence, Committee On Psychosocial

Aspects Of Child And Family Health. Sexuality Education for Children and Adolescents.

American Academy of Pediatrics.

https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/138/2/e20161348.long?utm_source=Trend

MD. Published August 1, 2016. Accessed August 1, 2020.

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7. Manlove J, Cook E, Karpilow Q, Thomas A, and Fish H. Male Involvement in Family

Planning. Childtrends.org. https://www.childtrends.org/wp-

content/uploads/2014/09/2014-36MaleInvolvementFamilyPlanning.pdf. Published 2014.

Accessed June 28, 2020.

8. Salam RA, Faqqah A, Sajjad N, et al. Improving Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive

Health: A Systematic Review of Potential Interventions. Journal of Adolescent Health.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1054139X16301689. Published

September 21, 2016. Accessed August 2, 2020.

9. Schalet AT, Santelli JS, Russell ST, et al. Invited Commentary: Broadening the Evidence

for Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Education in the United States.

September 2014:11-11. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10964-014-0178-

8.pdf. Accessed August 2, 2020.

10. Denno DM, Hoopes AJ, Chandra-Mouli V. Effective Strategies to Provide Adolescent

Sexual and Reproductive Health Services and to Increase Demand and Community

Support. Journal of Adolescent Health.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1054139X14004248. Published

December 18, 2014. Accessed August 2, 2020.

11. Courts.ca.gov. https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/BTB_23_5J_4.pdf. Published 2015.

Accessed June 25, 2020.

12. Family planning/contraception methods. Who.int. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-

sheets/detail/family-planning-contraception. Published 2020. Accessed June 25, 2020.

13. Adolescents and Family Planning: What the Evidence Shows. The International Center

for Research on Women . https://www.icrw.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/140701-

ICRW-Family-Planning-Rpt-Web.pdf. Published 2014. Accessed August 1, 2020.

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14. Sexual & Reproductive Health Resources For Parents of Adolescents and Young Adults

– SAHM. Adolescenthealth.org. https://www.adolescenthealth.org/Resources/Clinical-

Care-Resources/Sexual-Reproductive-Health/SandRH-Resources-For-Parents-of-

Adolesc.aspx. Published 2020. Accessed June 28, 2020.