[ Music ]
>> I'm Tonya Popovic
and welcome to Beyond the Data.
Here with me is Dr. Wanda Barfield.
Wanda, we have just finished a great session
on reducing the teen pregnancy rates and have heard a lot
of interesting and valuable data.
And while it is encouraging to see that the rates
of teen pregnancy are declining, there is certainly a lot
of room for improvement.
And what I would like to focus on is different groups of people
who can help us further improve the decline in those rates
such as healthcare providers, parents and teens themselves.
So let's start with the healthcare providers.
What can they do to gain teens' trust and have teens open up
and be comfortable talking about contraception?
>> Dr. Wanda Barfield: Well, thank you Dr. Popovic.
You know I think one of the important relationships
that providers have is the honor to learn
about confidential issues.
And so I think in the context of teen pregnancy prevention,
providers really have an opportunity
to really earn the trust of teens and to learn
about the particular issues that affect them.
I think providers in particularly
when you think about, for example,
pediatricians they may have a longer term relationship
with teens and may be able to start to introduce the issues
of sexual activity and sexual risk behaviors.
So it's very important that we also learn to train ourselves
as providers on how to talk appropriately
with these controversial areas.
>> Dr. Tonya Popovic: What does it mean
to have a teen friendly office
in which one is comfortable to talk about it.
>> Dr. Wanda Barfield: You know I think we could probably do a
better job of even asking teens what a teen friendly
environment is.
We know from some of the information that some
of it is also about maintaining
that confidentiality in the clinic.
Perhaps having appropriate triage areas depending
on a condition and allowing an area that really fosters more
of that transition into adulthood.
So they may not want to go to a clinic that looks
like it's serving babies or they may not want to go to a clinic
that looks like it's focused more
on other activities like STD prevention.
So I think communities have an opportunity to learn from
their teens as to what might be a best environment for them.
>> Dr. Tonya Popovic: So asking them as well.
>> Dr. Wanda Barfield: Asking them as well, yes.
>> Dr. Tonya Popovic: So we have also heard
that a lot about LARC today.
Can you summarize for us what are the key advantages
of using LARC. >> Dr.Wanda Barfield: Yes, So
>> Dr. Tonya Popovic: And what are they?
>> Dr. Wanda Barfield: Yeah so LARC stands
for long acting reversible contraceptives
and they include methods such as the IUD as well as injectables.
And it's -- the important concept
about LARC is that it's safe.
It's effective and it's also something
that you don't have to think about.
So with LARCs and its use, teens would be able
to get an effective method of contraceptive and not have
to think about it, for example, every single day.
>> Dr. Tonya Popovic: So when we talk about educating teens
about contraception, somehow automatically most
of the time we think about girls.
Well what about boys?
>> Dr. Wanda Barfield: Well, it's good that you mention that,
Tonya, because you know it does take two to tango.
And I think that including boys in education
about teen pregnancy prevention is very important.
I think they're often forgotten in our efforts.
However they are a very important role to play.
One in terms of just making that they also learn
about effective contraception and also the use
of condoms in dual protection.
So both teens, both girls and boys, need to learn
about effective contraceptive use.
We also need to encourage them and educate them
about responsible sexual behavior once they decide
to be sexually active.
>> Dr. Tonya Popovic: So this is obviously a topic where more
than an individual needs to be engaged.
So let's talk briefly about parents and adults
in the community where teens live.
What are their roles?
>> Dr. Wanda Barfield: Yeah, so I think a parent
or a trusted adult is critical in terms of the opportunity
to prevent teen pregnancy.
You know teens really look to adults for guidance
and for support and so having that appropriate parent
or mentor or guardian who can really help them
and educate them is critically important.
You know the other thing, too,
is that teens may actually need accurate resources
and good information.
So not only is it important to have teens educated
about these -- this information like LARCs but also
to have parents educated.
And you know depending on the context,
the providers can also support that environment
where parents are allowed to get information and learn and share
so that they can be a good first resource
of information for teens.
>> Dr. Tonya Popovic: So we're all in this together.
>> Dr. Wanda Barfield: We're all in this together.
>> Dr. Tonya Popovic: Thank you so very much.
>> Dr. Wanda Barfield: Thank you, Dr. Popovic.
>> Dr. Tonya Popovic: Thank you very much
and I hope you will join us next month [music]
for Beyond the Data.
[Music]