Contraceptive use and sterilization among people with disabilities
Contraception
Awarded 2020
Emerging Scholars in Family Planning
Gabrielle deFiebre, MPH
CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy
$5,158

Gabrielle deFiebre is a PhD student in Community Health and Health Policy at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy. She previously earned an MPH degree in Community Health Education from Hunter College and a BA from New College of Florida. Gabrielle currently works as the Associate Director of Research and Education at the Siegel Rare Neuroimmune Association, a patient advocacy organization that advocates for individuals diagnosed with rare neuroimmune disorders of the central nervous system. She previously worked on reproductive health research projects involving increasing access to reproductive health care in primary care at the Reproductive Health Access Project (RHAP) and the Institute for Family Health, and she currently serves on the board of directors for RHAP. She has also worked as a teaching assistant and adjunct lecturer at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy. This proposed research is a mixed methods study to quantitatively describe patterns in reversible and permanent contraception methods and qualitatively understand factors that influence contraceptive decision-making, particularly related to female sterilization. Multivariable log binomial analyses will be conducted of contraceptive use and sterilization of three cycles of the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG, 2011-2013, 2013-2015, 2015-2017), comparing women with and without disabilities and by type of disability (including all six subgroups). Semi-structured interviews conducted with 15-30 individuals with physical disabilities about their contraceptive use and decision-making will provide more in-depth qualitative data.