Search

Over the past decade, increasing attention has been paid to intervening in individuals' health in the "preconception" period as an approach to optimizing pregnancy outcomes. Increasing attention to the structural and social determinants of health and to the need to prioritize reproductive autonomy has underscored the need to evolve the preconception health framework to center race equity and to engage with the historical and social context in which reproduction and reproductive health care occur. In this commentary, we describe the results of a meeting with a multidisciplinary group of maternal and child health experts, reproductive health researchers and practitioners, and Reproductive Justice leaders to define a new approach for clinical and public health systems to engage with the health of nonpregnant people. We describe a novel "Reproductive and Sexual Health Equity" framework, defined as an approach to comprehensively meet people's reproductive and sexual health needs, with explicit attention to structural influences on health and health care and grounded in a desire to achieve the highest level of health for all people and address inequities in health outcomes. Principles of the framework include centering the needs of and redistributing power to communities, having clinical and public health systems acknowledge historical and ongoing harms related to reproductive and sexual health, and addressing root causes of inequities. We conclude with a call to action for a multisectoral effort centered in equity to advance reproductive and sexual health across the reproductive life course.

Low rates of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination among young Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women need to be addressed, particularly given the high incidence of cervical cancer in this population. The current study aims to investigate predictors of HPV vaccination in young AAPI and non-Latina white (NLW) women.A secondary data analysis was conducted of a health survey administered to college-aged women (N = 2,270) at a large public university in the Midwest. Andersen's behavioral model of health services utilization guided the study theoretically, and hierarchical logistic regression analysis was conducted to investigate research aim.NLW women had a significantly higher rate of vaccine completion than AAPI women (NLW = 60.7%; AAPI = 38.6%). NLW women also scored higher on all 5 measures of HPV vaccine literacy than AAPI women. Both groups of undergraduate women reported that increasing age, knowledge about HPV, greater use of gynecological services, and knowing someone who had cancer were significant factors related to HPV vaccination completion. In the NLW group, father's income was also found to be a predictor of HPV vaccination completion.Rate and predictors of HPV vaccination completion vary between NLW and AAPI women. Greater promotion of HPV literacy and gynecological service use should be made to young AAPI women to increase their HPV uptake. Further research should examine sociocultural factors that could hinder or promote HPV vaccination in young AAPI women.

Background There is increasing support among stakeholders in the United States to make oral contraceptives (OCs) available over the counter (OTC). Previous research on the topic has focused on representative samples of U.S. women, Latina women, low-income women, and abortion clients. However, little is known about the perspectives of African American women, Asian American women, and young women. Methods We conducted 14 focus group discussions with 138 women. Twenty-three percent of participants were ages 18 or younger, 61% were African American, and 26% were Asian American/Pacific Islander. Community organizations recruited participants through convenience sampling and hosted the discussions. Focus groups were transcribed and coded thematically. Findings Women reported potential benefits of OTC access, including convenience and privacy. Many believed OTC availability of OCs would help to reduce unintended pregnancy and help to destigmatize birth control. Participants also expressed concerns about OTC access, such as worry that first-time users and young adolescents would not have enough information to use the pill safely and effectively, as well as concerns about whether women would still obtain preventive screenings. Women were also worried that the cost of OTC OCs would be higher if insurance no longer covered them. Conclusions Overall, women were interested in the option of obtaining the pill OTC. Future research and advocacy efforts should explore women's concerns, including whether adolescents can effectively use OTC pills and ensuring insurance coverage for OTC contraception.

DOI 10.1515/cjpp-2014-0007 Calif. J. Politics Policy 2014; 6(3): 361–379 Karthick Ramakrishnan* and Miriam Yeung Courting the Asian American Electorate: What Do They Care About? Findings from the 2012 National Asian American Survey and the 2012 AAPI Post-Election Survey Abstract: The 2012 National Asian American Survey (NAAS) is nationally repre- sentative survey of the policy priorities and issue preferences of Asian Americans conducted in ten Asian languages (Cantonese, Hindi, Hmong, Khmer, Korean, Japanese, Mandarin, Tagalog, Thai and Vietnamese). Results from NAAS can be disaggregated to the top six largest ethnic Asian American groups – Chinese, Asian Indian, Filipino, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese. In 2012, we were able to survey an oversample of Native Hawaiians and Samoans but for the purposes of this report, we will be focusing on the Asian American communities. This report presents the results of 4269 telephone interviews of Asian American adults conducted between July 31, 2012 and October 20, 2012 (which we often refer to as the “pre-election survey”) and 6139 Asian American registered voters interviewed between November 7, 2012 and December 26, 2012 (which we often refer to as the AAPI Post-Election Survey, or AAPI PES). Keywords: Asian Americans; 2012 election; public opinion. *Corresponding author: Karthick Ramakrishnan, UC Riverside, Political Science, Riverside, CA 92521, USA, e-mail: karthick.ramakrishnan@ucr.edu Miriam Yeung: National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, New York, NY, USA 1 Executive Summary The 2012 National Asian American Survey (NAAS) is nationally representa- tive survey of the policy priorities and issue preferences of Asian Americans conducted in ten Asian languages (Cantonese, Hindi, Hmong, Khmer, Korean, Japanese, Mandarin, Tagalog, Thai and Vietnamese). Results from NAAS can be disaggregated to the top six largest ethnic Asian American groups – Chinese, Asian Indian, Filipino, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese. In 2012, we were able to survey an oversample of Native Hawaiians and Samoans but for the purposes of this report, we will be focusing on the Asian American communities. This