Providing contraceptive care to low-income, African American teens: the experience of urban community health centers.

Recently, attention has been drawn to the quality of the patient-provider relationship as a mediator of health outcomes for racial and ethnic minorities. The purpose of this study was to examine the provider-patient relationship in reproductive health care for low income African American teens and to identify effective techniques they use in caring for teens. We conducted focus groups with providers at two clinics serving six low-income neighborhoods on the Southside of Chicago. Sessions were audio-taped then transcribed verbatim. ATLAS/ti 5.0 (a qualitative data analysis software program), was used for coding, text retrieval, data management and analysis of data. Providers in community clinics use a number of tactics when working with teens. First, they forge strong relationships through the use of language, shared background experiences, honesty and spending extra time with teens. Second, clinic employees work collectively to care for the patients with all staff members, both professional and clerical, contributing to the provider-patient relationship. Third, providers seek opportunities for contraceptive counseling even attempting to reach males outside of clinic. Techniques used by providers in neighborhood clinics may provide important insights for providing reproductive health care to low income, African American teens.