Contraceptive Action Plan Project (CAP)

The Contraceptive Action Plan (CAP) project was a partnership formed in 2014 between the CDC’s Division of Reproductive Health, CAI, Inc., and the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis that led the Contraceptive CHOICE Project. The Contraceptive CHOICE project aimed to reduce financial barriers to contraception, promote the most effective methods of birth control, and reduce unintended pregnancy in the St. Louis area. Results of the CHOICE project show that of women who chose an IUD or implant, also known as Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC), 86% were still using the method at Year 1 and women choosing LARC or the shot had the lowest unintended pregnancy rates.

Like CHOICE, CAP supported the idea of every woman having

• Knowledge to make an informed decision about birth control.
• Opportunity to be provided the birth control method of her choice on the same day she first visits the clinic, including Long Acting Reversible Contraception.

CAP was designed to support health care teams gain the knowledge and skills to deliver quality, client-centered, and culturally competent contraceptive services to women and teens using a team-based approach.  CAP developed tools and training resources to enhance the provision of contraceptive services that include the e-Learning program for staff, implementation tools, job aids, and a clinician mentoring toolkit.

In March 2015, four Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) began participation in the pilot program based on the CHOICE model.

During this pilot, staff from CAI sought to guide FQHC health care leadership and staff through four phases designed to improve access to contraception for the women and adolescents they serve.

1. Conducting an assessment of current systems in place to support the delivery of quality contraceptive services.
2. Creating a supportive organizational context; for example improving work flow and revising staff roles and responsibilities.
3. Building staff competency; for example, assessing staff observation and feedback, providing mentoring, providing training and tools for counselors, and training providers about LARC insertion and removal.
4. Implementing and improving the delivery of contraception services by incorporating new work flow measures and defining staff roles and responsibilities.

 Changes in provision of LARC were tracked through December 2015 and analysis is currently underway.