Exploring Strategies to Educate Reproductive-Aged Individuals About Pharmacist-Prescribed Hormonal Contraception in Indiana: A Qualitative Study

Rates of unintended pregnancy continue to remain high in the United States. Pharmacist-prescribed hormonal contraception offers an accessible option for preventing mistimed or unintended pregnancies, leading to better reproductive health outcomes. Specifically in Indiana, studies show patient interest in this service, however, overall pharmacy implementation and patient awareness has been low. This project aims to explore strategies for educating pregnancy-capable people in Indiana about the availability of pharmacist-prescribed birth control. The Social Marketing Theory guided development of a focus group/interview guide to identify themes on how best to educate pregnancy-capable individuals on pharmacist-prescribed hormonal contraception. The sessions were conducted virtually by one investigator and transcripts were analyzed by three investigators using inductive thematic analysis. Four focus groups and four interviews were conducted with a total of 12 English-speaking participants. Identified themes included Prior Understanding of Pharmacy Services, Pharmacy Service Characteristics, Knowledge or Education, and Preferred Advertising Method and Content. Results showcased that there was an overall lack of knowledge about this service and that strategies for educating the community would be through social media, pharmacy flyers, campus outreach, and health fairs. Pharmacists play a key role in addressing reproductive healthcare gaps. As new services are implemented, consideration should be given as to how best to educate the community through modalities such as social media, pharmacy flyers, campus outreach, and health fairs. Strategic community engagement for pharmacist-prescribed contraception services may help to overcome access barriers and ultimately reduce the incidence of mistimed or unwanted pregnancies in Indiana.