Dr. Deborah J. Oakley

Deborah Oakley

University of Michigan

Nursing

Deborah OakleyUniversity of Michigan

"The main point of counseling is to bring into cognitive awareness the specific behaviors needed to begin and maintain their contraceptive intentions; not to say, 'use a condom every time,'" explains Dr. Deborah Oakley of the University of Michigan, who has studied the effectiveness of counseling on barrier method use.

"The user, not the counselor, has responsibility for the behavior change," she says.
...
In a study of consistent condom use for contraceptive purposes, Dr. Oakley and her colleagues identified groups of women who needed intensive counseling to achieve consistent use.6 "People who use condoms as a backup method -- for example, when a pill was missed -- are highly motivated," says Dr. Oakley.

That is why Norplant and Depo-Provera were invented, because it is so hard for people to remember to take pills," says Dr. Deborah Oakley, a professor at the University of Michigan School of Nursing who has studied provider behavior as it relates to pill compliance.

"If providers think their job is only to give the method to women who are medically eligible, we're not going to get anywhere," she says."Providers need to come to see it as their responsibility to ask about the environment for use, how women will use the pill, and help women figure out strategies for correct use."

Based on a review of research on family planning counseling, Oakley has identified several techniques for improving client-provider communication: She suggests providers greet their clients by name; assure an atmosphere of privacy; and sit at the same eye level as their client, instead of at a higher level.Counselors can improve communication by asking clients about their family planning goals, listening carefully to answers, and by being aware of such "nonverbal" cues as the client's attitude.2 Listening to a client's particular doubts and concerns, including her difficulties with using contraception, is necessary to determine what each woman needs, and what type of counseling will be most effective.
...
"We probably need to do more questioning and listening about what a woman's situation is," says Dr. Oakley.

B. In a 1991 survey of family planning clients who used condoms, University of Michigan nursing researcher Deborah J. Oakley found that only about 1% of the people used them correctly.