My first experience at Student Health Services was intensely uncomfortable and awkward. When I walked into the tiny basement office, the first thing I saw was the buffet of free ‘goodies.’ The buffet included information pamphlets, cough drops, promotional stickers for the insurance company, sexual lubricant and, of course, condoms. The second I saw the condoms, I smiled and quickly looked around to see if the secretary was still in the other room. In the next ten seconds, the secretary bolted out of the director’s office and stood behind his desk. The condoms were sitting on a small table in front of his work area. He was now staring at me. I didn’t get any condoms on my first visit.
As an employee in customer service, I am able to gauge service quality. I would not rate the service quality of my first visit high. Every following visit began the same way. The quiet assistant stared at me when I walked into the office. Chances are you will have to break the awkward silence and tell him what you need.
After later interviewing Director of Health Services Jessica Lettow, I learned that the assistant may have assumed I was there for condoms. A large wooden board covers the opening of the bowls of condoms and lubricants. The board has a message in big letters: “Limit 2, must scan ID.” Obtaining condoms from Health Services involves having the secretary scan your ID and watch as you pick two. It wasn’t until my third visit that I finally had the courage to take condoms.
Health Service’s non-confidential method of distributing contraception may be counter productive to the main mission of helping prevent the spread of STDs. NEIU is ranked the most ethnically diverse university in the Midwest, according to the U.S. News & World Reports. At a glance, the university has 49 percent Caucasian, 25 percent Hispanic, 12 percent African American, 10 percent Asian,and 4 percent rank as other. The large ranking diversity amongst the student body provides a need for cultural sensitivity. Barb Chandler, of the Gale Group Inc., claimed in the 2002 Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health, “Cultural sensitivity must begin with recognition that there are differences between cultures.” These differences are reflected in the ways that different groups communicate and relate to one another, and they carry over into interactions with health care providers. The various ways that groups share information and associate with each other expose these differences.
“A culturally competent clinician views all patients as unique individuals and realizes that their experiences, beliefs, values, and language affect their perceptions of clinical service delivery, acceptance of a diagnosis, and compliance.” Barb Chandler, The Gale Group Inc., Gale, Detroit, Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health, 2002
Individuals’ values are shaped by their culture, their families and religion. Research from Planned Parenthood explains that over time, beliefs and values about sexuality may change. However, many cultures preach a need for shame with regard to premarital sex. My Roman Catholic parents verbally forbid their children from engaging in premarital sex.
I attribute my embarrassment in Health Services to my cultural and parental influences. My proposition is that if a confidential distribution method was instilled, more students might utilize the service. During our interview, Lettow said she would consider revision of the method if the student body agrees with the proposition.
One of the first questions I asked Lettow was why the process is seemingly intrusive and non-confidential. One of the main reasons is that people were abusing the service. Students pay for health services through tuition, it only serves to provide for students. Employees of NEIU were filling their pockets with condoms that were in a bowl outside of the office. This abuse was noticeably costly and detrimental to the Health Services mission statement. Several small steps were taken to fix this problem. First a ‘students only’ sign was posted next to the bowl. After that was ignored, the bowl and sign were moved into the office. This made a slight improvement, but didn’t fix it completely. People would now wait until the secretary walked into the next room before slipping into the office. Finally, it was mandated that an ID must be scanned, and the secretary would act as a security guard for the students’ condoms.
Health Services was simply looking out for the students’ best interests. It made sense that they must scan IDs. Within a minute, the most ideal situation popped into my head. “Let’s make a private room for students. The room can have the goodie buffet: condoms, pamphlets, cough drops, lubricant, tissues, tampons, etc. Students can scan their ID and claim they need to get a cough drop or whatever, and then secretly grab condoms. No one would know the difference,” I said. Lettow smiled at me, and then proceeded to explain that because we are a commuter school, our Health Services office is very small. Because of the size, there simply isn’t any space for a ‘student room.’ At the end of the interview, Lettow agreed to put a bowl of condoms in the patient bathroom. She also reiterated that she would work to change the current style of contraception dispersal if the student body agrees with my proposal.
The bottom line is Health Services truly wants to help the students to the best of its ability. The next step is to conduct a poll of the student body, and discover the effectiveness of the current contraception delivery process. Stay tuned!