TY - JOUR
T1 - Social Work Student Attitudes Toward Contraception and the HPV Vaccine
AU - Flaherty, Chris
AU - Ely, Gretchen E.
AU - Akers, L. Shevawn
AU - Dignan, Mark
AU - Bonistall Noland, Tara
PY - 2012/4
Y1 - 2012/4
N2 - The purpose of the current study was to examine social work student attitudes toward the social work profession's perspective on certain aspects of reproductive health in the United States: contraception, emergency contraception, and the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. Students at a large, public, land grant university were surveyed to determine whether their personal attitudes were in line with the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) stance on reproductive health outlined in the NASW policy statement on family planning and reproductive health. The relationship between levels of religious activity and attitudes toward these aspects of reproductive health was also examined. Results suggest that almost all of the respondents support public funding for family planning. Furthermore, almost all students indicate willingness to refer clients for general contraception. However, results related to emergency contraception indicate that 72% of students disagree that it should be available for adolescents over the counter, even with parental consent, which is inconsistent with the NASW perspective. Sixty-four percent of students report believing that the HPV vaccine is unsafe. Further, as levels of religious activity increased, acceptance of some of these aspects of reproductive health decreased. Implications for social work practice, education, and directions for future research are discussed.
AB - The purpose of the current study was to examine social work student attitudes toward the social work profession's perspective on certain aspects of reproductive health in the United States: contraception, emergency contraception, and the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine. Students at a large, public, land grant university were surveyed to determine whether their personal attitudes were in line with the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) stance on reproductive health outlined in the NASW policy statement on family planning and reproductive health. The relationship between levels of religious activity and attitudes toward these aspects of reproductive health was also examined. Results suggest that almost all of the respondents support public funding for family planning. Furthermore, almost all students indicate willingness to refer clients for general contraception. However, results related to emergency contraception indicate that 72% of students disagree that it should be available for adolescents over the counter, even with parental consent, which is inconsistent with the NASW perspective. Sixty-four percent of students report believing that the HPV vaccine is unsafe. Further, as levels of religious activity increased, acceptance of some of these aspects of reproductive health decreased. Implications for social work practice, education, and directions for future research are discussed.
KW - HPV vaccine
KW - contraception
KW - emergency contraception
KW - family planning
KW - reproductive health
KW - social work students
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U2 - 10.1080/00981389.2011.642945
DO - 10.1080/00981389.2011.642945
M3 - Article
C2 - 22489559
AN - SCOPUS:84859645381
SN - 0098-1389
VL - 51
SP - 361
EP - 381
JO - Social Work in Health Care
JF - Social Work in Health Care
IS - 4
ER -