Learnings from our contraceptive care survey

Over the last six months or so, as part of the Perspectives programme at Kaleidoscope, I’ve been leading a project to understand the experiences of contraceptive care among women and people who menstruate aged 16-25.

The last time I wrote about my project, I was putting the call out to people to respond to my survey. Now, I’m here to tell you about what I found out – and with 125 responses there was plenty of data to analyse, and some really interesting and meaningful themes emerged.

General trends 

It was interesting to see that the majority of respondents went into the appointment with a preferred method of contraception in mind (80%). Of these, the majority (82%) left with that method and yet, ultimately, around a third of people were unsatisfied that their method of contraception suited them.

A lack of information was a challenge for people – 61% said that they had insufficient information on the range of contraception available, and 75% said that the information on the side effects of contraceptives was insufficient. This was also highlighted when asked what improvements, if any, they would like to see in the consultation process – 57% of respondents mentioned that they would have liked more information.

Common themes

On the flip side, 70% were either satisfied or very satisfied that their preferences were taken into consideration, and 56% were either satisfied or very satisfied with the level of empathy and sensitivity displayed by their healthcare professional.

When asked what the most positive and the most negative aspects of their appointments were, it was interesting to see that the same themes were consistently mentioned in response to both questions. These included whether patients felt informed, whether they felt that their outcome was good, whether they felt heard, whether they felt that their healthcare professional was empathetic.

These aspects of the consultation are crucial to having a positive experience of contraceptive care and if they are executed well, patients really value and appreciate it.

Calls for more tailored care

Personally, I thought the most interesting part of the survey were the improvements people wanted to see to contraceptive care.

Calls for more tailored and individualised care was the golden thread running through many of the responses: people wanted to see their individual and family medical histories taken into account, to see LGBTQ specific advice, and for healthcare professionals to have a deeper understanding and awareness of how different types of contraception may affect their mental health.

Continuity of care

Alongside more personalised care, there was a desire for a higher degree of continuity of care. People would like their appointments to not be standalone; they wanted hormone tests before they were prescribed contraception, the opportunity for follow-up checks, and to be seen by the same healthcare professional.

No one’s experience of contraception is the same. It seems that the most important improvement that could be made is for healthcare professionals to understand, acknowledge and act on this. At a time when the NHS is under extreme pressure, it may be difficult for all of the requests mentioned in the survey responses to be met, but a change in the way that healthcare professionals approach contraceptive appointments should be possible.

It seems quite straightforward: what people want is to be treated as an individual, for their experiences to be heard, for their personal concerns and fears to be allayed, and to feel in control of their care.

Read the full contraceptive care survey report.

Join our online event

One size doesn’t fit all: how can contraceptive care be tailor-made?

If you want to hear more about the findings from the survey and what they mean for young people’s contraceptive care, join our online Fresh Conversations event on 31 May, from 12.30 to 1.20pm.

I’ll be joined by Jack Liepa from Sexpression:UK, who will be talking about the importance of including youth perspectives in healthcare decisions. The clue’s in the name – it’s a conversation – so please come along for the chance to talk about the issues arising from the survey.

Sign up for the event