RESEARCHERS FROM UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA DETAIL FINDINGS IN REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

Women’s Health Law Weekly
December 17, 2006

Fresh data on reproductive health are presented in the report
"Contraceptive practices in Armenia: Panel evaluation of an
Information-Education-Communication Campaign." According to recent
research published in the journal Social Science & Medicine, "Induced
abortion remains the major form of birth control among Armenian
women, contributing to their excess mortality and preventable
morbidity. Reliance on abortion is attributed to limited access
to information concerning modern methods of contraception and to
widely held misinformation among women regarding family planning and
reproductive health."

"Based on the Steps to Behavior Change model, the Green Path
Campaign for Family Health, an information-education-communication
(IEC) campaign, was launched in June 2000. This multimedia campaign
promoted greater awareness, knowledge, acceptance, and adoption of
modern contraception through increased utilization of counseling and
related services provided at underutilized family planning centers. A
representative panel of 1088 married women aged 18-35 were surveyed on
reproductive health/family planning knowledge, attitudes, and practices
immediately prior to and immediately following the 6-month national
campaign. Exposure to the campaign was associated with significant
increases in factors associated with contraceptive behavior change:
knowledge, favorable attitudes toward modern methods, favorable
attitudes toward family planning services, and information seeking
and utilization of family planning services.

Women who were more educated, more affluent, and slightly older
were more likely to use family planning services as well as modern
contraceptive methods. New visits to family planning centers increased
by 84%. Despite the usual 25% turnover among those using modern
methods at the start of the study, use of modern contraceptive methods
increased by 4.6%, significantly exceeding the projected 3% increase,"
wrote M.E. Thompson and colleagues, University of North Carolina.

The researchers concluded: "The results document changes in underlying
behavioral predictors consistent with the Steps to Behavior Change
model and highlight the relatively untapped potential of media-based
health promotion efforts in post-Soviet Republics."

Thompson and colleagues published their study in Social Science &
Medicine (Contraceptive practices in Armenia: Panel evaluation of
an Information-Education-Communication Campaign. Social Science &
Medicine, 2006;63(11):2770-83).

For additional information, contact M.E. Thompson, University of
North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC U.S.

The publisher’s contact information for the journal Social Science &
Medicine is: Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd., the Boulevard, Langford
Lane, Kidlington, Oxford OX5 1GB, England.

Keywords: United States, Charlotte, Behavior, Obstetrics, Reproductive
Health, Social Science, Women’s Health.

This article was prepared by Women’s Health Law Week editors from
staff and other reports. Copyright 2006, Women’s Health Law Week
via NewsRx.com.