Adolescent and young adult reproductive health care needs are not diminished during pandemics. Needs for family planning services may be heightened because of various environmental changes in response to the pandemic, including amount of parental supervision, daily structure, and usual ways of accessing contraception and condoms. Health care professionals (HCPs) caring for adolescent and young adult patients need to acknowledge that contraception is an essential need and adopt new approaches to providing this crucial care.
In response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, HCPs are exploring ways to ensure delivery of essential health care services and minimize exposure risks to personnel and patients, including virtual care. Fortunately, both telephone and video platforms are well suited to providing contraceptive care. While an in-person encounter may be ideal, many reproductive health care services can be performed virtually, including contraception counseling, provision and maintenance of regular and emergency contraception, and sexual risk-reduction counseling. We propose the following approach for providing contraception to adolescents during COVID-19 that leverages virtual care and minimizes the need for in-person visits. This approach can be used by many HCPs and across telehealth and in-person settings.
