Elizabeth Pleasants, DrPH, MPH, of the Center for Women’s Health Research at UNC, has been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Network Open (JAMA-NO). Dr. Pleasants is the lead author of “Adolescents and Young Adults’ Sources of Contraceptive Information.” Click here to view the publication.
In the recent study, Dr. Pleasants discovered significant discrepancies in how young people access information about birth control. One of the key findings highlights:
“We found gaps between where young people wanted to get information about birth control and where they actually received it. Among those who did receive information, many preferred to get it from healthcare providers (84%), but less than half actually did (43%). When young people did receive information from a provider, they were more likely to report having enough information to decide which method was right for them. Notably, one-third of young people surveyed did not receive any information on this topic in the last year.”
The study was inspired by a survey conducted by Power to Decide on birth control information. Dr. Pleasants felt it was crucial to share the findings.
“I feel very lucky to have worked with these data from Power to Decide and with this team,” said Dr. Pleasants. “Power to Decide does incredible work developing and administering these surveys, along with their many other efforts to promote access to quality information. When given the opportunity, our team all volunteered to contribute to this research, forming a powerful group of researchers and advocates across six different institutions.”
The following list features the coauthors of the publication:
- Brooke Whitfield, MA (University of Texas. Austin)
- Zoe H. Pleasure, MPH (University of Washington, Seattle)
- Ci’erra Larsen, MPH (Power to Decide)
- Dana Johnson, PhD, MPAff (University of Wisconsin, Madison)
- Riley J. Steiner, PhD, MPH (Power to Decide)
- Laura D. Lindberg, PhD (Rutgers University)
“The publication process is rarely easy, but this has been one of my most rewarding publication experiences to date,” said Dr. Pleasants. “We are all thrilled to be able to share these findings and continue doing research together.”
Elizabeth Pleasants, DrPH, MPH, is a Postdoctoral Research Associate working with Dr. Kavita Arora at the Center for Women’s Health Research at UNC Chapel Hill. She received her DrPH from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2024.