QARE for Teens aims to improve access, care, and the capacity of community health centers to deliver high-quality sexual and reproductive health services to adolescent patients.
For over two decades, there have been many efforts to improve access to and the quality of adolescent sexual and reproductive health care. However, missed opportunities continue to present barriers to young people seeking care.
Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) are trusted safety-net providers that serve almost 10 percent of adolescents across the United States. Yet many health centers lack the support and structures to provide quality adolescent sexual and reproductive health services. To address these gaps, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Division of Reproductive Health has initiated the Quality & Access for Reproductive Health Equity (QARE) for Teens project.
The initiative
To implement QARE for Teens, the CDC has partnered with the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) and engaged CAI to convene stakeholders, help develop strategies, and deliver critical training and assistance. In order to improve the quality of adolescent sexual and reproductive health care, we facilitated a virtual technical panel of 25 national and local leaders in adolescent care and conducted an environmental scan to gather strategies, tools, and resources for improving services. These efforts included key informant interviews with leading experts to understand how to improve access to services through telemedicine and other non-traditional care.
We will continue building upon our previous work while piloting learning communities and helping close gaps in quality, accessible, and youth-friendly care.
The impact
There are numerous change strategies and related tools and resources available to support adoption of quality adolescent sexual and reproductive health services. Successful implementation requires motivating and inspiring healthcare leaders and providers to prioritize the delivery of high-quality care to young patients.
Through comprehensive quality assurance activities, health centers will improve their capacity to reduce disparities, improve health outcomes, and provide the most effective sexual and reproductive health services to the young people they serve.
Project funders
- National Association of Community Health Centers
- U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Division of Reproductive Health
Leadership and contact
Mikayla Bobrow: qare.contact@caiglobal.org.