Contraceptive decision-making and priorities: What happens before patients see a healthcare provider

Abstract

Extensive research has been conducted on the contraceptive decision-making that patients engage in during their appointment with healthcare providers and the approaches used by providers during this process, but less information is available on what happens prior to the appointment that may contribute to patients' decisions. Here, we use data from semi-structured interviews with 17 patients at a sexual health clinic about their experience obtaining contraception to explore the process of choosing a method. Participants were recruited through posters in the clinic waiting room and via information posted on the clinic's social media feeds. Interviews were thematically analyzed, and two main themes identifi ed. Th e first theme was the importance of seeking out information online and from social networks prior to seeing a provider, to the extent that most participants had settled on a method prior to their discussion with a physician. The second theme was the priorities identified by participants in their decision-making, primarily side eff ects. Th e findings suggest that key moments of decision-making may not take place during a contraceptive counselling appointment, but rather beforehand through independent research, discussions with others, and previous experiences with contraception. The experiences of participants in this study indicate that contraceptive counselling should include discussion of the information patients have gleaned from other sources and acknowledge the importance of experiential information as well as factual.