About the Study
Dr Catherine Conlon of the School of Social Work and Social Policy at Trinity College Dublin has been commissioned by the HSE Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy Programme to carry out research to understand people’s experiences of using abortion care services and unplanned pregnancy supports. This is the first study of these services since abortion care was introduced in Ireland in January 2019. This study has ethics approval from Trinity College Dublin.
Who will participate?
People using abortion care and unplanned pregnancy support services and health professionals providing such care e.g. doctors, nurses and counsellors, will be asked to take part in the study to share insights as users and providers of services from the perspective of how well services are meeting people’s needs. We hope to gather people’s experiences through one-to-one confidential interviews with people who have recently used services. This includes people attending pregnancy counselling services, people attending GPs or Women’s Health Clinics for abortion care, people attending hospitals for abortion care and those who have accessed abortion care outside of Ireland People attending selected services between December 2019 and December 2020 are being asked to consider taking part in this study.
How will this information be used?
The study findings will inform the HSE in developing, planning and delivering services in the future. The law on abortion care (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy Act 2018) will be reviewed in 2021 and it is expected that people’s views from this study will inform that review. This study is a chance for people to have a say on what unplanned pregnancy support and abortion care services would best meet their needs.
Who is funding this study?
This study is funded by the Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy Programme of the Health Service Executive.
Need more information?
Contact the Research Team
Dr Catherine Conlon
Assistant Professor of Social Policy
School of Social Work and Social Policy
Phone: 01 896 1312 or 085 265 9637
conlonce@tcd.ie
Dr Kate Antosik-Parsons
Research Fellow
School of Social Work and Social Policy
Trinity College Dublin
Phone:01 896 1312 or 085 265 9637
kantosik@tcd.ie
