Male Hispanic Immigrants Talk about Family Planning

Abstract

In order to improve delivery of family planning services by better understanding the views of people affected, researchers conducted four focus groups among Hispanic men who recently migrated to a Midwestern community. Participants expressed opinions about, attitudes towards, and knowledge of such matters as family planning, birth control information and access, the influence of religion on family planning and birth control decisions, general familial relations, the prevalence of infidelity, use of and access to the health care system, and cultural differences between the U.S. and their countries of origin. The men voiced opinions and attitudes supportive of family planning and appeared knowledgeable about various methods of birth control. Understanding the attitudes held by immigrant men is important for health care providers in designing successful service interventions for this rapidly growing segment of the population.