Like the nation overall, Arkansas has seen a dramatic decline in the teen birth rate among females ages 15-19 years during the past decade.  Sexual activity among teens has been on the decline, according to data from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS). The percent of Arkansas high school students who have ever engaged in sexual intercourse decreased from 54.9% in 2007 to 44.2% in 2017.  The percent of students who reported being currently sexually active also decreased from 39.7% to 30.9% during the same time period.  The use of more effective contraceptive methods such as intrauterine devices (IUD) and implants also rose in this age group during recent years (2.7% in 2013 to 6.6% in 2017).

• Arkansas Department of Health
• Arkansas Department of Education
• Arkansas Department of Higher Education
• Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care
• Arkansas Children’s Hospital
• The  Center for Youth and Families
• UAMS Obgyn Department
• UAMS Collage of Public Health

Providing family planning counseling and services for those teens that decide to be sexually active has be an essential component of the continued decline in teen births.  Providing funding of programs that promote sexual risk avoidance that can be offered in our schools has also been a major component of our efforts.  Providing data and information to health providers and the community to help them assess where they should put their efforts and their resources is an enabling factor.  We are looking at trying to provide more resources to communities and to school nurses, so they can shape the health education according to the needs and wants of the school or community.

Strategy 1: Develop a communication strategy to promote adolescent health.

Strategy 2: Develop a data kit on teen pregnancy for health professionals, educators, and policy makers.

Strategy 3: Examine attitudes, perceptions and barriers towards contraception use of target population.

Strategy 4: Develop or adopt a provider and staff contraceptive/LARC (Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives) training program for Local Health Units.

Teen Pregnancy in Arkansas Data Deck Spring 2018:

https://www.healthy.arkansas.gov/images/uploads/pdf/Spring_2018_Teen_Pregnancy_Data_Deck_FINAL.pdf