TRANSFORMING ACCES TO SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIV HEALTH

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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 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.

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