Jail as a Point of Contraceptive Care Access: Needs and Preferences Among Women in an Urban Jail.
Kyl Myers, Cristen Dalessandro, Claudia Geist and 1 others
PMID 34463421WHAT IT FOUND
73% of women surveyed in a Utah jail wanted access to contraceptive care while incarcerated.
Nurses can ask about preferences, provide voluntary education, and help with insurance after release.
Key findings
0173% of women wanted access to contraceptive provision while in jail.
02Half were uninsured before incarceration, and 77% wanted help signing up for post-release health insurance.
03Women interested in the implant, IUDs, or injectable contraception were more likely to want cost-free contraceptive care before release.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample was one of convenience from one urban jail in Utah, so it may not apply to other jail populations. The sample was majority non-Hispanic white and included no non-Hispanic Black participants, while Black women are overrepresented in US prisons. The survey was not pilot tested with incarcerated women. The survey was self-administered in a common area. Women could have been reluctant to ask for clarification, and some answers were missing. The survey did not ask gender identity, so some participants may have been trans or nonbinary people who could become pregnant. The study did not ask about contraception used primarily for health reasons rather than pregnancy prevention. The associations were exploratory because the estimates were uncertain. Data were collected in 2015 and not published previously.
Declared interests
The paper states the study was approved by the University of Utah Institutional Review Board and supported by the county sheriff’s office.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the 73% desire for access as proof that contraceptive services in jail improve health outcomes or should be mandatory. This paper surveyed preferences only, and some women distrusted expanded services because of coercion concerns.