ACCESS MATTERS

TRANSFORMING ACCES TO SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIV HEALTH

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In the future please do not complain about the alternative subject matter and fundraising.

Access Matters is the practice of controlling the number of children in a family and the intervals between their births, particularly by means of artificial contraception or voluntary sterilization. Because "family" is included in the concept's name, consideration of a couple's desire to bear children, in the context of a family unit, is often considered primarily. Contemporary notions of Access Matters, however, tend to place a woman and her childbearing decisions at the center of the discussion, as notions of women's empowerment and reproductive autonomy have gained traction in many parts of the world. Access Matters may involve consideration of the number of children a woman wishes to have, including the choice to have no children, as well as the age at which she wishes to have them. These matters are obviously influenced by external factors such as marital situation, career considerations, financial position, any disabilities that may affect their ability to have children and raise them, besides many other considerations. If sexually active, family planning may involve the use of contraception and other techniques to control the timing of reproduction. Other techniques commonly used include sexuality education, prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections, pre-conception counseling and management, and infertility management.

Access Matters is sometimes used as a synonym or euphemism for access to and the use of contraception. However, it often involves methods and practices in addition to contraception. Additionally, there are many who might wish to use contraception but are not, necessarily,  planning a family (e.g., unmarried adolescents, young married couples delaying childbearing while building a career); Access Matters has become a catch-all phrase for much of the work undertaken in this realm. It is most usually applied to a female-male couple who wish to limit the number of children they have and/or to control the timing of pregnancy (also known as spacing children). Access Matters may encompass sterilization, as well as abortion.

Access Matters services are  defined as "educational, comprehensive medical or social activities which enable individuals, including  minors, to determine freely the number and spacing of their children and to select the means by which this may be achieved"

 

access matters is the planning of when  to have children, and the use of birth control and other techniques to implement such plans. Other techniques commonly used include sexuality education, prevention and management of sexually transmitted infections, pre-conception counseling and management, and infertility management.

 

"Raising" a child requires significant amounts of resources: time, social, financial, and environmental. Planning can help assure that resources are available. The purpose of family planning is to make sure that any couple, man, or woman who has the desire to have a child has the resources that are needed in order to complete this  goal. With these resources a couple, man or women can explore the options of natural birth, surrogacy, artificial insemination, or adoption. In the other case, if the person does not wish to have a child at the specific time, they can investigate the resources that are needed to prevent pregnancy, such as birth control, contraceptives, or physical protection and prevention.

Access Matter

116,000

people receive care through our network of over 40 clinical and community partners each year.

103,000

people receive health information, counseling, and services through 20 family planning healthcare organizations we fund.

20,000

teens benefit from our training of professionals at schools, community health centers, and hospitals.
 
 
 
 

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Access Matters

1700 Market Street, Suite 1540 Philadelphia, PA 19103 (215) 985-2600 | info@accessmatters.org Formerly Family Planning Council -founded 1972

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Big picture thinking. Real world results.

Access Matters (formerly Family Planning Council) innovates, empowers, and works to equalize access to sexual and reproductive health care for teens and adults in need. Through our unique abilities to engage and empower even the hardest-to-reach populations, we are closing the gap between those with access to sexual and reproductive health and those without for over 40 years we've been trailblazers.

Transforming conversations about why access matters.

As fearless advocates for sexual and reproductive health, we galvanize stakeholders and policymakers regionally and nationally to de-stigmatize sexual and reproductive health. We are committed to raising the flag of sexual and reproductive health in each community where we work, to make it a public health priority, and a core component of primary care.

Not just experts. Experienced.

For more than 40 years, our organization has been working to successfully eliminate economic, social, cultural, and geographic barriers to care for more than 200,000 people annually in southeastern Pennsylvania and beyond.

Seeing the big picture.

Our relationships with a vast spectrum of health care providers and strategic partners from leading academic institutions to community organizations gives us the ability to identify opportunities and solutions where others do not. Not only does this unique and powerful perspective enhance all our partner support services, but it also guides our advocacy and community engagement.

 

Programs

AccessMatters develops, implements, and evaluates programs that make a sustained community impact.  Through our deep community connections, we provide effective supportive services to teens and adults in need, specializing in high-risk and hard-to-reach populations.

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Services

Access Matters Services leverage our expertise and comprehensive network of health care providers.  This network includes both specialty and primary care clinics, community-based providers, academic hospitals, federally qualified health centers, as well as our own community health workers.

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Training

Access Matters provides distance learning and in-person training opportunities, using learning collaborative and adult learning principles.  Our professional staff train hundreds of health care and social service providers locally, regionally, and nationally.

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Consulting

Access Matters assists providers in identifying strategies and solutions to enhance care while assessing and monitoring costs.  Our projects are designed to increase consume engagement, facilitate efficient service delivery and utilization of preventative and outpatient services, and assess effective reimbursement strategies.

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Research

Access Matters conducts community-based practice research, service utilization review, program evaluation, and needs assessment.  Our research team frequently partners with leading academic institutions, complementing their strengths with the practical, on-the-ground experience of our expansive provider networks.

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Access Matters supports a network of over 20 partner organizations that operate more than 60 health centers in five counties, serving over 100,000 men, women, and teens annually. Access Matters family planning program also supports the provision of services to youth who receive services through Access Matters� Health Resource Center program. AccessMatters� Hotline refers over 3,000 callers to health centers and other services each year.

Access Matters comprehensive network of health centers includes specialty to primary care clinics providing sexual and reproductive health services.  This vast spectrum of health care providers from leading academic institutions to community organizations enables Access Matters to support access to confidential, quality care for people in their settings of choice, with tailored counseling and a focus on eliminating barriers to getting care.  Access Matters network health centers have flexible hours, including nights and weekends, and are accessible via public transportation.  AccessMatters� network health centers serve everyone regardless of ability to pay or insurance status.

Access Matters has a proud history of providing comprehensive family planning and related preventive health services to individuals, families, and communities through our network of partner organizations.  As a critical part of the region's healthcare safety net, serving individuals from low-income families and other hard-to-reach and vulnerable populations is a high priority for Access Matters. A hallmark of the Access Matters service delivery model is to support integration of complimentary services such as HIV prevention, teen focused programs, health coverage enrollment assistance, maternal health, and pediatrics.

For information on where to locate family planning services in Southeastern Pennsylvania, call the Access Matters Hotline at 215-985-3300.  For general information about the Family Planning Program at Access Matters, contact the Director of the Family Planning Program at (215) 985-2604.

 

Access Matters Research, Evaluation, and Data (RED) team offers customized consulting services to assess the effectiveness of your organization's efforts to address important social and health issues. Our experienced staff have wide-ranging methodological expertise, and regularly conduct mixed-method evaluations for internal programs as well as external clients.

 

 

Services offered by Access Matters RED team include:

  • Independent/unaffiliated Evaluation of programs and services, ranging from pilot projects to long-established programs
  • Needs Assessments and Environmental Scans to identify and visualize barriers and service gaps as well as strengths, capacity, and existing resources in a community or population
  • Evaluation Design for proposals (i.e. developing process and outcome evaluation work plans, developing logic models, establishing SMART goals and objectives)
  • Survey and Script Design for written and online surveys, in-person and remote interviews, and focus groups
  • Culturally Responsible Form Design to ensure accuracy and appropriateness of questions and formatting for any data collection tool, especially those used in clinical and healthcare settings
  • Data Management consulting and technical assistance for Title X family planning providers working with complex health data systems
  • Report Writing to translate evaluation results into compelling stories that speak to funders, community members, and other stakeholders

For more information, or to request services, please contact Research@ Access Matters .org.

The Access Project

With ongoing efforts to undermine reproductive health, it is essential that we continue to expand efforts to protect reproductive rights and access. It is more important than ever that we unite to protect all that we have achieved on behalf of women and families across Pennsylvania. With the support of generous donors, Access Matters launched a campaign, �The Access Project, in 2017 to support a three-year health policy position at Access Matters to preserve and expand access throughout the state.

We launched this effort in November 2017 with the hope of raising a total of $400,000 for this work.  The response has been incredible. In Fall 2018, we held a successful fundraising event with Kathryn Kolbert, raising over $80,000 including generous matching grants. To date, we've raised over $291,000 including matching challenge grants offered by Janet and John Haas from the Otto Haas Charitable Trust.

Now we need your help to continue raising funds to meet our $400,000 goal.  Every donation matters.

In 2018, we expanded our team to include a health policy position. Since expanding our team, we've kicked off work around:

  • protecting the Title X Family Planning Program,
  • advocating for comprehensive sex education,
  • organizing voter registration and mobilization efforts, and
  • advocating for contraceptive coverage for FDA-approved contraceptives

2019 Access Project highlights include:

  • Extending our term serving in the top leadership position with the Pennsylvania Campaign for Women's Health, a bi-partisan, statewide advocacy effort.
  • Collaborating with the PA Attorney General's office in the lawsuit to block the dangerous Title X rule and signing an official declaration used in the case;
  • Forming and leading a statewide coalition of advocates to advance comprehensive sex education legislation with State Representative Brian Sims and testifying at the PA House Democratic Policy Committee's hearing on House Bill 1586 in support of comprehensive sex education in PA
  • Launching several targeted actions to mobilize Access Matters supporters to act to: oppose the changes to Title X, oppose the Medicaid work requirement, and oppose family separation practices; support increases in funding for Title X; and weigh in on other important policy issues.
  • Increasing collaboration and communication with 20+ key state and federal elected officials and their staff to advance sexual and reproductive health;
  • Analyzing bill language and providing substantive edits on bills, including the contraceptive coverage guarantee, comprehensive sex education, Medicaid reimbursements for doula services, and more; and
  • Launching a storytelling project for providers and supporters to share their stories about the impact of the Title X Family Planning Program.

AccessMatters works closely with like-minded groups across the state and beginning in July 2018, we began convening the Pennsylvania Campaign for Women's Health and we have since extended our term serving in the top leadership position. The Campaign for Women's Health is a statewide advocacy effort that supports evidence-based policy to further women's health and economic security in Pennsylvania.  

In light of recent events and continued attacks on sexual and reproductive health, we know our work is not over.

We need your support to ensure we can continue to expand on this important advocacy work.  Please give today to help us meet and surpass our goal of $400,000.

Access Matters HIV care is provided in collaboration with a network of 7 Philadelphia area agencies and is a nationally recognized program.  Primarily funded through the federal Ryan White Part D program, our services focus on providing HIV clinical and supportive services for women, infants, children, youth and families affected by HIV disease. With the addition of multiple HIV prevention funding streams, Access Matters has fashioned community focused initiatives that include African American women and men, as well as men who have sex with men, reaching high risk communities and HIV positive individuals in evidenced-based HIV prevention interventions.  Through the provision of HIV primary care and medical case management this program provides care to over 2,000 persons and HIV testing and prevention services to over 800 people annually.

Community-Based Health Services

Access Matters is known locally for its community engagement and health promotion work to improve health outcomes for HIV affected women and families,  HIV positive consumers, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons. Community-based services include screening for HIV/STD and pregnancy with an active linkage to care component. Access Matters continuously monitors areas with high rates of sexual health disparities and deploys its community-based HIV and STD testing services into those areas.  Through its community-based programming, Access Matters is recognized for its success in locating individuals with chronic health conditions (e.g. HIV disease) who have been lost to care and reconnecting them to services.  Access Matters community health workers are also trained as Affordable Care Act (ACA) Certified Applications Counselors and educate consumers about eligibility for health coverage and assist them with accessing coverage through the Marketplace.

 

Hypocrisy

 

 

 

Access Matters administers the Pennsylvania Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (PA-BCCEDP) in Southeastern Pennsylvania. The Program provides free breast and cervical cancer screening and diagnostic services, as well as referrals to treatment when needed. Access Matters contracts with 19 health care organizations that serve nearly 5,000 individuals through the PA-BCCEDP annually.

To be eligible for the PA-BCCEDP, individuals must be Pennsylvania residents who are uninsured or underinsured (with limited coverage or cost-prohibitive deductibles), have low or moderate-income, and have breasts and/or a cervix. Cervical cancer screening is available to people age 21 years and older, and breast cancer screening is available to people age 40 years and older and to people between the ages of 21 and 39 years who are at high risk for developing breast cancer. Diagnostic care for breast and cervical cancer is available to people age 18 years and older.

For more information about the PA-BCCEDP or to be connected to a participating healthcare organization, please call Access Matters� Information Hotline at 215-985-3300.

The PA-BCCEDP is a Pennsylvania Department of Health program and is made possible, in part, by funding from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Health Resource Centers serve youth by:

  • Encouraging critical thinking around sexual activity
  • Promoting healthy relationships and behaviors regarding human sexuality
  • Promoting safer sexual behavior, including access to and correct use of condoms and other safer sex tools
  • Reducing unintended pregnancies and STD/HIV infection by providing referrals for reproductive healthcare services, contraception, and STD/HIV testing

Health Resource Center Impact:

This service matters.  Since 1991, the national teen pregnancy rate has declined by 55%.  However, pockets of the country still have high rates of unintended pregnancy, and STD rates remain high nationally.  Philadelphia and several other counties in Pennsylvania are among those pockets, with alarming rates of chlamydia that in many cases coincide with high rates of unintended pregnancy and other STDs among youth.   Despite this, zip codes in Philadelphia with access to Health Resource Centers reported average decreases in teen birth and STD rates that outpace the city, state, and

 

About The Health Resource Center Program:

Health Resource Centers provide private, confidential, and easily-accessible locations where youth can receive high-quality sexual and reproductive health counseling, education, and/or services from a trained professional. Health Resource Centers are based within schools or existing community sites.

The goals of the Health Resource Center Program are:

  • To increase the number of high school age youth in high-need counties with access to quality sexual and reproductive health education and counseling to better inform their health decisions.
  • To increase the number of high school age youth in high-need counties with access to tools to decrease risk of unintended pregnancy, HIV and STDs.

The mission of the Pennsylvania Perinatal Partnership is to improve women�s and children�s health outcomes in Pennsylvania through education, collaboration and advocacy. The Pennsylvania Perinatal Partnership represents the collaborative efforts of Pennsylvania�s Healthy Start Projects, Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Programs and the OCDEL approved home visiting agencies.

The Pennsylvania Perinatal Partnership is the only program in the state that regularly convenes representative MCH organizations from nearly every county in the Commonwealth.

In its work, the Pennsylvania Perinatal Partnership emphasizes the importance of making sure that women are healthy when they become pregnant, that they continue to be healthy during pregnancy, that they are healthy between pregnancies, and that their babies are born, and remain healthy. Prevention is the best way to assist women in having safe and healthy pregnancies and children who thrive.

Pennsylvania Perinatal Partnership members work to reduce barriers to maternal and child health services, promote the provision of culturally and linguistically sensitive care, and support the capacity of women to enhance and maintain their own health as well as the health of their children and families. Whether directly or through alliances with community-based health, mental health and social service organizations, members offer individualized care designed to build on the strengths of each family. In addition, members ensure that women and children receive needed primary and specialty health and mental health services; enroll families in health insurance programs; and provide education about nutrition, exercise, child development, and other maternal and child health concerns. Home visiting is a frequently used strategy to work with families on a longer term basis.

The Pennsylvania Perinatal Partnership is a program of Access Mattters, which manages this unique collaboration of maternal and child health programs.

Counseling and Referrals Provided For:

  • All reproductive health options

CONTRACEPTION

  • Birth control methods (hormonal and non-hormonal)
  • Fertility awareness-based methods
  • Emergency contraception

GYNECOLOGY

  • Pelvic exams
  • Colposcopy
  • Breast and cervical cancer screenings (free and low-cost)
  • Menstrual cycles/irregularities
  • Bacterial Vaginosis
  • Urinary tract infections

HIV/AIDS

  • HIV general information
  • HIV testing
  • HIV symptoms
  • Risk assessment
  • HIV case management
  • HIV medical care
  • Referral and information for Special Pharmaceutical Benefits Program (SPBP)
  • Risk reduction
  • PrEP
  • PEP

MEN�S HEALTH

  • Male exams
  • Urinary tract infections
  • Vasectomy procedures

PREGNANCY

  • Prenatal care
  • Pregnancy testing and symptoms
  • Ectopic pregnancy
  • Miscarriage
  • Prenatal Medicaid

STD TESTING AND TREATMENT

  • STDs (including Hepatitis B)
  • HPV vaccine

Referrals ONLY:

  • General health
  • Health insurance (Medicaid, CHIP, prenatal Medicaid and insurance navigation)
  • Social services
  • Sterilization
  • Infertility services
  • Transgender care (hormone therapy)
  • DNA testing
  • Pediatric care/immunizations
  • Parenting education, support & resources

 

Who Is

 
 

COVID-19 Operations Update

Mar 17, 2020

Following the request of Pennsylvania Governor Wolf and the order of Philadelphia Mayor Kenney regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, Access Matters has shut down non-essential operations through at least March 27 to protect the broader community and so that our staff...

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2019 Voter Registration Information

Sep 24, 2019

Elected officials influence the policies that directly impact the lives of ALL Pennsylvanians. They influence decisions on various issues related to access to sexual and reproductive health care, and many others. Access Matters believes voting is a basic right that all...

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Destigmatizing Sex Work

Mar 15, 2019

Brothers United, a project of Access Matters, presents a brand new take on sex education. We want to change the way you think about sexual and reproductive health. Join us on March 22nd for the first installment in our new educational panel discussion...

read more

Evaluation and Data Consulting Services

Access Matters� Research, Evaluation, and Data (RED) team offers customized consulting services to assess the effectiveness of your organization�s efforts to address important social and health issues. Our experienced staff have wide-ranging methodological expertise, and regularly conduct mixed-method evaluations for internal programs as well as external clients.

 

 

Services offered by Access Matters� RED team include:

  • Independent/unaffiliated Evaluation of programs and services, ranging from pilot projects to long-established programs
  • Needs Assessments and Environmental Scans to identify and visualize barriers and service gaps as well as strengths, capacity, and existing resources in a community or population
  • Evaluation Design for proposals (i.e. developing process and outcome evaluation work plans, developing logic models, establishing SMART goals and objectives)
  • Survey and Script Design for written and online surveys, in-person and remote interviews, and focus groups
  • Culturally Responsible Form Design to ensure accuracy and appropriateness of questions and formatting for any data collection tool, especially those used in clinical and healthcare settings
  • Data Management consulting and technical assistance for Title X family planning providers working with complex health data systems
  • Report Writing to translate evaluation results into compelling stories that speak to funders, community members, and other stakeholders

Research, Evaluation, and Data

The Research, Evaluation, and Data (RED) team supports Access Matters� mission through the development and execution of innovative research, quality program evaluation, and responsive data management. With past experience in academic research, quality improvement and management, data system development, management and troubleshooting, and both quantitative and qualitative methodologies, the team is well-equipped to serve and support our diverse programs and communities.

In addition to supporting all Access Matters programs, the RED team conducts independent original research and provides consulting evaluation services to a variety of partners, ranging from small local non-profits to large government agencies.

For more information, or to request consulting services, please email Research@ Access Matters .org.

Project Briefs

As part of our mission to increase access to and knowledge of sexual and reproductive health, the RED team prepares Project Briefs describing the background, process, and outcomes of highlighted projects and programs. These Briefs are available free of cost, and are approved for further distribution and sharing.

  • Factors Associated with Successful Routine HIV Testing in Family Planning Settings in Philadelphia (funded by the AIDS Activities Coordinating Office)
  • Re-Engaging Clients Designated �Lost to Care� in a Statewide Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (funded by the PA Department of Health)

Additional Briefs will be added to this list on an ongoing basis. If you would like a copy of any of the Briefs listed above, please email research@ access matters .org. 

Access Matters� Institutional Review Board

In addition to conducting our own research, the RED team administrates Access Matters� Institutional Review Board (IRB) to review research proposals from agencies looking to conduct data collection with Title X family planning patients. For more information about the IRB, or to submit an application, please email Hilary.OConnell@ Access Matters .org.

Our Funders and Partners

Access Matters� RED team has worked with a wide variety of collaborators to conduct research and program evaluation. In the past year, key funders and partners of the RED team have included the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the Pennsylvania Department of Health; Gilead Sciences, Inc.; the Alliance of Pennsylvania Councils; and the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. If you are interested in partnering with AccessMatters for research, evaluation, and/or data services, please contact Research@ Access Matters .org.

Funders including the CDC and the PA Department of Health have utilized AccessMatters� evaluation expertise because of our history and reputation for conducting external, independent evaluation.

 

 

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