Preventing Repeat Teen Pregnancy:

To decrease the repeat teen pregnancy rate, the University of Texas Health Science Center, UT Teen Health program

• Collaborates with Nurse Family Partnership (NFP) to
  • provide “best practice” updates on contraceptives such as promoting LARC usage,
  • establish teen-friendly environments by providing same-day appointments,
  • build networks to provide condoms to clients who need them, and
  • promote peer-to-peer reproductive health seminars that discuss resistance skills and goal setting.
• Works with a hospital nurse liaison to increase teens’ postpartum access to health-care services; the nurse liaison educates patients in the postpartum unit about contraceptive options and connects these teens to clinics. The nurse also follows these patients with two- and six-week follow-up phone calls to answer questions, assess their usage of the chosen birth control method, and help them navigate the health-care system.
• Partners with area schools and the Bexar County Juvenile Probation Department to offer evidence-based programs to prevent teen pregnancy.
• Collaborates with the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program to refer WIC clients to family planning clinics to gain access to preventive care.

The UT Teen Health program saw several achievements:

• UTTH received school board approval of evidence-based curricula in area schools that serve pregnant and parenting teens.
• Of 48 pregnant and parenting teens who started the Nurse Family Partnership (NFP) program in 2012, 32 entered NFP through UTTH’s collaboration with schools.
• All NFP clients received contraceptive education at each NFP home visit.
• The nurse liaison saw 155 postpartum patients while working with UTTH over seven months. Of these, 96 patients (62%) received either an IUD, implant, or injection as a method of contraception. The nurse liaison distributed 600 copies of teen-friendly STD prevention and contraceptive method materials to postpartum teens and family members, as well as at local outreach events.
• UTTH educated over 300 probation department staff members in anatomy, adolescent reproductive development, STDs, contraceptives, and how to access clinical services for youth in custody. Thirty probation and detention workers were trained in and are now using Reducing the Risk^®, an evidence-based teen pregnancy prevention program. The probation department now refers probationers to clinics and can transport youth to appointments.
• UTTH helped WIC staff develop two enrollment application questions designed to increase referrals for reproductive health care.