Healthy + Well writer: Sarah Houle
Photo via Media from Wix
Beginning in the fall, the Wellness Education Bandits, in conjunction with the Student Health Center, will be conducting birth control informational sessions. In attending the sessions, students are able to get birth control prescriptions through the Student Health Center. Each session will consist of a presentation that runs roughly 30 minutes and a question-answer portion at the end. They will be administered by a Wellness Education Bandit that is trained as a certified peer educator.
Each session is set to run through statistics of who uses birth control, different types of birth control, a few misconceptions regarding birth control, and a price breakdown of the different methods. The goal is to normalize discussions regarding birth control while also giving students that attend a complete explanation of the options available to them.
Prior to the creation of the informational session, students could receive prescriptions for birth control through making a 30-minute appointment at the Student Health Center. The informational session erases the need for the appointment. Rather, students can now attend the session which will occur after normal Student Health Center hours, helping to decrease conflicts with class times which may prevent students’ abilities to make an appointment at the Student Health Center. Additionally, to receive the prescription, students will need to have their blood pressure checked.
The prescriptions can be filled at an off-campus pharmacy, such as CVS, Walgreens, or Target. For any method of birth control that the Student Health Center cannot prescribe, students will be directed towards their next steps for receiving care off campus.
The goal of creating the informational session is to allow for students to receive information regarding birth control, and their prescriptions if desired, at a time that is more conducive to a student schedule, meaning after normal Student Health Center hours. Additionally, it hopefully will open up more time in the Student Health Center schedule for appointments not related to birth control prescriptions. Finally, the sessions will help to normalize birth control usage on campus through opening up dialogue between students on birth control and safe sex practices.
While off campus, there are a few ways that students can receive birth control prescriptions online while practice social distancing measures. The Pill Club is an online provider where people can receive a birth control prescription and have the prescription filled through answering health questions. The birth control can be delivered directly to the recipient’s home and arrives in discreet packaging without a logo with a few bonus goods, such as stickers and sample female hygiene products. The Pill Club only offers the birth control pill. Additionally, the Planned Parenthood app allows for people to choose a birth control method remotely after answering health questions and reading information about the method. The pill can be shipped the recipient’s home, all other methods can either be picked up at a specified location or must have a appointment to receive. The Pill Club can prescribe to most, though not all, of the states and the Planned Parenthood app is currently not offered in every state.
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