Abstract
Purpose
Little is known about how patient education and emotional support is provided at abortion
facilities. This pilot study documents 27 facilities' practices in this aspect of
abortion care.
Methods
We conducted confidential telephone interviews with staff from 27 abortion facilities
about their practices.
Main Findings
The majority of facilities reported they rely primarily on trained nonclinician staff
to educate patients and provide emotional support. As part of their informed consent
and counseling processes, facilities reported that staff always provide patients with
information about the procedure (96%), assess the certainty of their abortion decisions
(92%), assess their feelings and provide emotional support (74%), and provide contraceptive
health education (92%). Time spent providing these components of care varied across
facilities and patients. When describing their facility's care philosophy, many respondents
expressed support for “patient-centered,” “supportive,” “nonjudgmental” care. Eighty-two
percent agreed that it is the facility's role to provide counseling for emotional
issues related to abortion.
Conclusions
All facilities valued informed consent, patient education, and emotional support.
Although the majority of facilities considered counseling for emotional issues to
be a part of their role, some did not. Future research should examine patients' preferences
regarding abortion care and counseling and how different approaches to care affect
women's emotional well-being after having an abortion.
Practice Implications
This information is important in light of current, widespread legislative efforts
that aim to regulate abortion counseling, which are being proposed without an understanding
of patient needs or facility practices.
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Biography
Heather Gould, MPH, is a senior research analyst with the Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health (ANSIRH) Program at the Bixby Center for Global Reproductive Health at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
Biography
Alissa Perrucci, PhD, MPH, is a clinical psychologist and counseling and administrative manager at the Women's Options Center at San Francisco General Hospital and author of the book Decision Assessment and Counseling in Abortion Care: Philosophy and Practice.
Biography
Rana Barar, MPH, is project director and Danielle Sinkford is a research associate for the Turnaway Study at ANSIRH.
Biography
Diana Greene Foster, PhD, a demographer, is the principal investigator of the Turnaway Study, Director of Research at ANSIRH, and an associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at UCSF.
Article info
Publication history
Published online: May 21, 2012
Accepted:
April 12,
2012
Received in revised form:
April 12,
2012
Received:
December 12,
2011
Footnotes
Funded by an anonymous foundation.
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 Jacobs Institute of Women's Health. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
