Chicago Abortion Fund. “Access to Emergency Contraception at Chicagoland and Suburban Pharmacies.” Chicago Abortion Fund, 2004. http://bwrj.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/emergency-contraceptive-survey-report-2003.pdf.
Annotation
This report provides the results from research collected by African American Women Evolving (AAWE) about pharmacies’ quality of access and knowledge of emergency contraception in the Chicagoland area. Through two surveys distributed in 2002 and 2003, AAWE documented pharmacies' knowledge about, Preven®, a type of emergency contraceptive (EC) that was approved by the FDA for over-the-counter use. Between the 2002 and 2003 surveys, AAWE conducted outreach activities to provide pharmacies with more knowledge about EC. The results from the 2002 survey revealed that most of the quality ratings fell at either extreme--excellent or poor--suggesting that there is “a large gap in the knowledge base of EC across the board” (10). Although there was a clear sign of improvement in the knowledge about EC. their findings suggested that smaller pharmacies tended toward having the lowest quality of service and access to EC; it is also these pharmacies that primarily serve communities of color.
This report has detailed charts and tables describing methodology and data collection process. AAWE also makes recommendations to continue spreading information about EC, including increased cultural competency, standards and training regarding EC, and public education.