Healthcare for low-income families

One of our Patient Representatives side shares a story about the importance of having Emergency Contraception available over the counter to youth.

John Doe is 17 years-old, and has been coming to our Adolescent Health Services for over year. He would come in to buy Plan B - often in the middle of the day, during school hours. He’d come in, buy it and be on his way. He didn’t engage much, just asked to buy Plan B, and so it went on for about 3-4 more times. He was a regular.

One day John came in and he said, “can I ask you something…...how effective is Plan B?” This led to our Patient Representative having a conversation with this teen about the other effective birth control methods we offered and how we were a low-barrier clinic for teens. She assured him that his girlfriend could receive these services confidentially. She provided him birth control brochures and encouraged him to be informed about preventing pregnancies, always offering him to help himself to free condoms.

After a few more visits to CCI Health & Wellness Services to purchase Plan B, the teen’s girlfriend scheduled an appointment and soon after had a birth control consultation with a provider. When she came in, our Patient Representative walked her through the process, informed her that she would not contact her unless she felt it was safe. She informed her that we wouldn’t contact her parents, unless she wanted parental involvement.

As a result, our staff was able to create a security blanket for this teen so that she would feel comfortable and safe receiving services with us. During that visit, a lot of myths and misconceptions that kept this teen from starting a hormonal birth control method were addressed.  Now she comes in for regular appointments. “I see her every month or so when she comes in to pick up her birth control pills. They also both know that they can still come in to purchase Plan B as a back-up.”