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2. Education and Information

Family planning is not propagandizing, it is accurate honest full information and it is informed consent. - Lon Newman, Executive Director of Family Planning Health Services, Wausau, WI

Critical components of family planning are information and education. The idea of informed consent is a cornerstone of the culture of family planning and is an essential part of education and information. It is making sure family planning clients receive correct information and quality education that will assist them to clearly understand the best method of contraceptive care to reach their family planning goals. Every client has an ethical and legal right to be informed before giving consent to a method of birth control. In family planning, informed consent contains seven basic elements of all birth control methods to consider when providing contraceptive care. These seven elements are: benefits, risks, alternatives, inquiries, decline, explanation, and documents. They can be remembered as B R A I D E D; a mnemonic device developed by Dr. R.A. Hatcher a professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics at Emory University and has served as senior author of 17 editions of Contraceptive Technology, a Handbook for Clinic Staff.

Benefits of the methods and services

• actual use and effectiveness rates
• positive effects on the body, self-image, relationship, socioeconomic status (spacing of children until financially able to support additional family members)
• health screening-preventative

Risks of the method and/or treatment

• possible discomforts and disadvantages associated with method of treatment
• reasonable disclosure of minor and major complications associated with the method

Alternatives available

• unbiased description and information about all methods available
• alternatives presented must permit a rational decision to be made. If alternatives not viable for a patient, explain why

Inquiries from the client encouraged

• offer to answer any questions the client has
• offer to provide further information as needed
• provide written information about the method of choice
• observe non-verbal behavior for cues that the client may have questions

Decline any method offered

• provide client with the explanation that he/she has the right to decline any method offered
• provide the client with the explanation that he/she is free to withdraw consent
• remind client that declining a method will not result in the withholding of any benefits to which the client would be otherwise entitled

Explanation for client

• explain the proposed treatment/procedure in lay terms
• explain the proposed treatment/procedure in the client’s primary language
• explain how the method works, how to get and use the method, where to go if problems occur, and when to return to the clinic

Documentation of above

• record the discussion of all the preceding six steps
• the person documenting B R A I D E D should affix his/her signature
• obtain documentation of client’s consent by signature of the client
• try to give each client a copy of his/her consent form

It is exceptionally important to properly educate and inform clients on their right to choose their own method of family planning without judgment.

Family planning is not coercive. People who come to family planning agencies choose and are provided with medically accurate information, and they make the decision. We are just there to provide the best information and best climate for them to make the choices about what contraceptive method that they might use. - Janet Kusch, Executive Director of Options in Reproductive Care, La Crosse, WI

An integral part of serving clients is establishing a relaxed comfort level that is respectful while supplying updated reproductive healthcare information based on current research. Practitioners in family planning take the time to explain procedures and methods to their clients, making sure their clients are well informed and ready to make sound decisions about their health. Family planning clinics provide a relaxed atmosphere in which the client is not rushed and feels comfortable asking questions pertaining to their sexuality and reproductive health.

Inherent in family planning’s background is normalizing sexuality. When family planning clinics first came about there were few places to learn and talk about sexuality. Family planning clinics provided this space. They presented the message that women’s sexuality is important. In today’s society sex is not as taboo. In fact, it is depicted in media images daily. We need to be careful with this because some images present an incorrect picture of sex and sexuality giving harmful misinformation and messages. That is why family planning gives accurate information about sex and reproductive healthcare to those individuals who come to them wanting to learn and talk about their own sexuality.

We teach people that sexuality isn’t just about sex, but it is a lifelong learning about your body, your feelings, how to take care of it. All of the people that work for family planning clinics, we all are out there constantly in our community giving that message. Going out and working in the community you get a chance to value where you are at; you get a chance to value where other people are at; you get the chance to experience teaching somebody something new and always walking away with having learned something from them. - Maria Barker, Multicultural Programs Manager-Community Education Department, Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin

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URL: http://65.163.14.21/training/FPCulture/2ed.htm
 Last update: 03/05/08