Poster Presentations (Group I)

As the only federal program dedicated solely to providing family planning and reproductive health, Title X provides a broad range of effective family planning methods and services to those who may need them the most but to whom they may not be readily available. Many of the clients of the Title X-funded clinics come from underserved populations, are less than 25 years of age, are female, are African American or Latino, and live in areas of low socioeconomic status. Located in areas and environments that women often find accessible, family planning clinics are a principal source of health care for many adolescent and young adult women. Family planning programs offer the opportunity for women and, increasingly, men to seek and receive health-related information in a nonjudgmental environment, sometimes providing the only contact that individuals have with medical professionals. As a source of confidential, accessible, and inexpensive care, these programs provide an important venue for the delivery of culturally and linguistically competent services.

Initial research has indicated that Title X family planning programs are providing a wide range of culturally competent services and facing challenges in doing so. What is less apparent is how these programs have been consciously addressing disparities and cultural competency and how the Office of Family Planning (OFP) can help to further support these activities. Under contract with OFP, we have developed a literature review and are conducting key informant interviews and site visits to a select group of programs to examine specific strategies that are being created and adapted to provide culturally competent care within Title X-supported family planning clinics. The project objectives are to assist OPA in defining cultural competency within the Title X context, identifying current services, activities, and gaps, and highlighting innovative strategies that may potentially guide future policy and program development.

This project is unique because it examines the adaptation and implementation of cultural competence frameworks (e.g., the CLAS standards) within a setting that offers unique challenges and opportunities due to the nature of the subject matter, the demographics of the clientele, the specific skill sets required of the service providers, and the commitment of a federal agency to providing culturally and linguistically competent care. This presentation will offer lessons learned and concrete strategies for adaptation at a variety of levels, including policy, administrative, practice and service delivery, client and family, and community. It will provide participants with examples of tools and techniques for application in their own settings.