Evaluation of the Delaware Contraceptive Access Now (DelCAN) initiative: A qualitative analysis of site leaders'...

In 2014, Delaware launched a statewide initiative to reduce the rate of unintended pregnancies and increase access to contraception services. Our study objective was to understand the implementation experiences, barriers, and successes across health care practice settings and to provide recommendations for future, similar initiatives.

As part of a larger multicomponent process evaluation, we conducted semistructured interviews with 32 leaders from 26 practice settings implementing the initiative across the state. We analyzed the qualitative data through iterative open, axial, and selective coding using grounded theory methods, employing thematic analysis to identify common themes in implementation experiences.

Most practices perceived that patient demand for methods of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) increased. Many practices had to adapt the intervention to fit the needs and constraints of their settings and patient populations. Primary care practices, smaller practices, and practices that served large numbers of adolescents experienced more barriers compared to obstetrics and gynecology or women's health practices. For current and future iterations of the initiative, leaders emphasized: (1) the need for greater implementation flexibility, (2) the importance of inclusive communication at multiple levels, and (3) attending to logistical challenges, particularly around billing.

Varied practice settings required significant flexibility and responsiveness to context in order to implement the initiative. Organizations with greater pre-existing capacity were able to offer the full range of contraceptive care, as the initiative intended, in contrast to practices with less pre-existing capacity for providing methods of LARC and other types of contraception.

To meet the specific but heterogenous needs of various practices, it is crucial for future contraceptive access initiatives to conduct a comprehensive pre-implementation assessment. Preceding any training, this assessment should gather input from participants across all roles in a medical practice (e.g., providers, medical assistants, office staff, billing department).