HCSM

In July 2002, Health Care of Southeastern Massachusetts, Inc. (HCSM) was awarded a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Family Planning to support a Male Clinic Partnership Project. With this funding, Wareham Family Planning, in collaboration with local partners, has been able to promote male reproductive health and prev... ention by: increasing community awareness of the family planning male youth clinical and educational services through outreach, education and promotion in multiple contexts; providing comprehensive reproductive clinical services to young men by qualified, professionally trained staff; and helping to increase knowledge and skills relating to reproductive health and prevention for male youth in efforts to improve male reproductive health, prevent unintended pregnancies and HIV/AIDS/sexually transmitted infections in youth. The results of the work provided through this grant have surpassed our highest expectations. In 2002, only 5% of Wareham Family Planning clients were males. As of the end of 2006, 27% of Wareham Family Planning clients were males who made up over 25% of the total visits , an increase of over 400%. The number of males receiving community education has more than tripled and we have had the opportunity to collaborate with over ten new partners in providing community education and information in the Wareham area, including four area high schools and vocational technical schools, one college, and six health and human service programs. Wareham is an ideal location for male reproductive health services, given that Wareham is in the middle of a stretch of over 90 miles, between Provincetown and Fall River, where males have no publicly-funded sites to seek reproductive health services. We continue to be very pleased not only about the outcomes of the grant but about the process as well, including the way that male services are becoming more easily integrated within the entire reproductive health services of the program. While some males prefer to come for ...Read More