An online training program from Power to Decide can help health workers address teen pregnancy in their communities.
Photo by FatCamera, courtesy iStockphoto
After 30 years of steady decline, a troubling public health problem might be reversing course in the U.S.: teenage pregnancy.
With abortion bans now in effect in a dozen states and growing restrictions in others, access to reproductive health care is shrinking. The trend has made public health advocates worried about the impact on teenage pregnancy.
Raegan McDonald-Mosley, MD, MPH, a practicing OB-GYN and chief executive officer of Power to Decide, has spent two decades helping young people navigate pregnancy planning. Today those conversations are critical, she said.
“I’ve seen firsthand how important it is for people to be able to have the power to decide,” McDonald-Mosley told The Nation’s Health.
Providing easy-to-understand information can help prevent teenage pregnancy, which carries high risk for pre-eclampsia, premature birth and low birthweight babies. Teenage pregnancy also has socioeconomic impacts: only about half of teenage mothers earn a high school diploma, and about two-thirds who immediately move out of their family homes live in poverty.
Unfortunately, many young people lack access to information they need on contraception, according to the Youth Reproductive Health Access Survey, conducted annually by Power to Decide, which focuses on youth reproductive health. In 2024, the survey found only 1 in 4 young people in the U.S. felt informed enough to decide if birth control is right for them, and one-third said they lacked the information needed to choose the best method.
Asking one question — “Do you want to be pregnant this year?” — can help health workers down barriers with young patients.
APHA is partnering with Power to Decide to empower public health workers to have such conversations through web-based training. One Key Question Online, used by thousands of health care and social service providers in more than three dozen states, supports patients equally, whether they want to become pregnant or not.
One Key Question Online provides a framework to ask patients about pregnancy desires and goals, and offers personalized counseling and care based on patient response.
“We need to be doing everything possible as a public health system to ensure that we’re connecting people with care and services, and addressing their needs in a person-centered manner,” McDonald-Mosley said.
APHA members can take the online course, which takes up to six hours to complete, at a discounted rate.
For more information, visit bit.ly/decideapha.
- Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association
