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Wednesday Weekly 
DPHHS WMHS Newsletter 
In This Issue
LGBT Community and Family Planning Providers
Tools for Identifying Vulnerable Populations
Increasing Access to LARCs in the Fight Against Zika
Zika Twitter Chat
Teen Birth rates, Condoms and Instruction
How Does Talking to Extended Family Influence Teens' Decisions About Sex?
Can the US End Teen Pregnancy?
HIV Prevention Toolkit
Male Attendance at Title X Clinics
Life is Short - Smile!
Important Dates
6/30- End of Fiscal Year
7/6- Front Desk/Billing Conference Call
7/15- Health Education Progress Reports due
7/26- Health Education Conference Call
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June 22, 2016
Quote of the Week 
My wife's the reason anything gets done.
She nudges me towards promise by degrees.
She is a perfect symphony of one.
Our son is her most beautiful reprise.
We chase the melodies that seem to find us
Until they're finished songs and start to play.
When senseless acts of tragedy remind us
That nothing here is promised, not one day
This show is proof that history remembers.
We live through times when hate and fear seem stronger.
We rise and fall, and light from dying embers
Remembrances that hope and love last longer.
And love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love;
Cannot be killed or swept aside.
I sing Vanessa's symphony; Eliza tells her story.
Now fill the world with music, love, and pride.

~Lin-Manuel Miranda
LGBT Community and Family Planning Providers                             
LGBT Community and Family Planning Providers
                          
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals face a number of public health challenges linked to stigma and discrimination.  While public awareness and understanding of the LGBT community has grown in the past decade, the tragic shootings in Orlando last week show that there is still much work to be done.
 
In fact, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals may be the least studied, and least understood by health care providers, according to the authors of a new study in the American Journal of the Medical Sciences.

Title X family planning services operate on the front lines for these minority and underserved populations. But it can be hard to make care decisions when the medical establishment lacks enough high-quality evidence about the best preventive care measures for LGBT individuals, or can't identify important differences in the needs of these patients, the authors write. But issues like substance abuse, sexual health, obesity, cancer screening, and intimate partner violence are all "as or more important to address in LGBT patients as they are in the general American population," the study says.

That's because LGBT individuals can be disproportionately affected by health issues. Recent research highlights some of these inequalities. For example, rates of teen pregnancy are high among LBGT teens even as the overall U.S. teen pregnancy rate has reached a 40-year low. Gay and bisexual men continue to be most at risk for HIV. Earlier this year, a CDC study found that-if current diagnosis rates persist-half of gay black men and one-quarter of gay Latino men will be diagnosed with HIV in their lifetimes. And LGBT youths who are bullied are more likely to develop depression and post-traumatic stress disorder as adults.

Although the numbers can look bleak, Title X family planning providers play an important role in mitigating LGBT health disparities. For example, clinicians with LGBT patients can radically improve outcomes by using  shared decision-making, to work with patients to reach health care decisions that are both medically sound and responsive to patients' preferences and values. A new study looks at ways to integrate shared decision-making into health care settings to improve care for LGBT patients.

More resources about LGBT health are available through the American Medical Association (AMA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The AMA's comprehensive list of LGBT health resources for clinicians includes information on creating an LGBT-friendly practice, communicating with LGBT patients, and spreading the word about LGBT health issues. The CDC's resources focus on LGBT sexual health and include an overview of current LGBT health disparities.

The FPNTC website also offers a variety of resources about LGBT health, including:

As resources and studies about LGBT health issues continue to be developed, clinicians will be better able to respond to LGBT patients' needs. Keep up with FPNTC news to stay up to date on the latest information.
  
Tools for Identifying Vulnerable Populations
and Health Disparities






Thursday, June 23, 2016
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM EDT
  
Learning Objectives: 
1. Explain the purpose and theory of the indicators used to determine Vulnerable Populations. 
2. Demonstrate how to access and use the Vulnerable Populations Footprint tool. 
3. Demonstrate how to incorporate a saved footprint into a Community Health Needs Assessment. 
4. Disseminate information from Learning Needs Assessment to Chronic Disease Directors and their Staff. 
 
  
Increasing access to LARCs in the fight against Zika                             
                             

Increasing access to LARCs in the fight against Zika

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed that infection with Zika virus during pregnancy has been linked to serious birth defects. Ensuring access to effective contraception is integral to preventing harmful outcomes from Zika virus, and publicly funded family planning providers across the country are joining in the prevention efforts. However, many providers experience persistent barriers to providing long-acting reversible contraceptive (LARC) methods due to their high upfront costs in relation to other methods. These barriers inhibit providers' ability to offer LARCs as an option for women seeking to delay pregnancy in the face of potential Zika infection.

NFPRHA's membership call on Wednesday, June 29, at 2:00 p.m. ET, will discuss solutions to common barriers providers face related to offering LARC methods. Join NFPRHA's Amanda Kimber to learn more about LARC stocking, billing, and reimbursement, as well as patient assistance programs available for LARC methods.

If you have any questions about the webinar topic, contact Amanda Kimber, Director of Health Care Delivery, at 202-293-3114 ext. 215 or akimber@nfprha.org. To join the webinar, please RSVP by completing the online registration form. If you have any questions about registering, please contact Lily Davidson at ldavidson@nfprha.org or 202-293-3114 ext. 212.
  
Zika Twitter Chat

 

 

Zika Twitter Chat

 
Help the HHS Office of Minority Health and CDC fight the bite! As we all prepare to spend more time outside, we should all take time to learn more about how to stop the Zika virus! Follow and join the Twitter Chat by using #StopZika on June 23rd at 2 pm ET!
 
Click here for more information.
  
Study: Teen Birth Rates Rose in Schools That Gave Out Free Condoms With No Instruction 
Study: Teen Birth Rates Rose in Schools That Gave Out Free Condoms With No Instruction                             

A new data analysis of in-school condom distribution programs from the 1990s has added new complexity to our understanding of teen pregnancy prevention. Most previous studies have shown that access to free contraception decreases teen birth rates, but this is the first robust study of condom-only programs. Researchers Kasey Buckles and Daniel Hungerman of the University of Notre Dame found that teen births rose 10 percent at schools that gave out free condoms to students.

The study distinguished between schools with free condoms that provided mandatory counseling about proper condom use and schools that gave out the condoms with no instruction. The authors tracked pregnancy rates before and after the condom programs were introduced in each school, and they compared these numbers to the pregnancy rates at schools that had no condom program at all and the pregnancy rates among young women aged 20 to 24 in the same areas as the school. This allowed them to control for the possibility that broader societal shifts were driving the rising pregnancy rates in the schools that offered free condoms.

Read the full article
  
How Does Talking to Extended Family Influence Teens' Decisions About Sex?                             
family5.jpg How Does Talking to Extended Family Influence Teens' Decisions About Sex?

National Clearinghouse on Families and Youth: A recent study finds that sexually active teens are more likely to have discussed sex and relationships with their extended family than with their parents. Read about the biggest takeaways for youth programming in this research brief.
  
Can the U.S. End Teen Pregnancy?
Can the U.S. End Teen Pregnancy?
Jun 14, 2016 | 21 videos                                    

Teen birth rates in the U.S. are down 9 percent from 2013, and they are the lowest they've been since 1940. However, America still has the highest teen pregnancy rate among 21 similar countries. Why is this? In this video, staff writer Olga Khazan explores how poverty, culture, and religion can all play a role.

  
HIV Prevention Toolkit: A Gender-Responsive Approach

The Office on Women's Health (OWH) and the Office of HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Policy (OHAIDP), recognize that gender-related issues are a key driver of this epidemic among women and girls. That's why OWH developed the HIV Prevention Toolkit: A Gender-Responsive Approach. The Toolkit is designed for health departments, clinical staff, academics, program planners, managers, and community providers who are involved in HIV prevention programs for women and adolescent girls. To learn more about what is in the toolkit and how it works read the blog here. The blog also includes link to PDFs of the toolkit sections which are located on AIDS.gov.

   
Male Attendance at Title X Family Planning Clinics

In honor of Men's Health Month in June, CDC's Division of Reproductive Health and the Office of Population Affairs released a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR):  Male Attendance at Title X Family Planning Clinics - United States, 2003-2014. The report analyzes data from the 2003-2014 Family Planning Annual Reports to examine men's use of services at Title X Family Planning Program sites and characteristics of male family planning users. The report underscores the importance of a client-centered, male-focused approach in health care settings to meet the reproductive health care needs and a broader range of preventive services for males.

 
  Life is Short - Smile!
  
           
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