University of California at San Francisco

This project will use evidence about current contraceptive technologies and priorities for contraceptive research to advocate for additional and different sources of research funding. Data gathered for this project will enable advocates to build consensus around the importance of, and priorities for, reproductive health research and development.

This grant to the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), will support the New Generation Health Center, a community-based program located in an economically distressed area of San Francisco, on the eastern side of the Mission District, with high rates of teen pregnancy. A primary goal of the center is to increase access to reproductive health services in this community to decrease disparities in teen pregnancy and STI rates. It also serves as a research and training site for UCSF clinicians working to improve delivery of reproductive health services. The health center will soon be moving to its new home at the Homeless Prenatal Program, also in the Mission District.

This grant will support a research project examining why young women who do not want to be pregnant forgo effective methods of birth control, even when cost and accessibility are not barriers. The research aims to shed light on the psychosocial dynamics that prevent young women who are motivated to prevent pregnancy from utilizing prevention methods and what providers and others can do to foster an environment in which young women access the effective methods that are available to them.