Fighting contraception misinformation with Brook’s new tool 

In this blog, Brook Digital Team members Helen Anderson and Lara Steele talk about the development of Brook’s new Contraception Tool, endorsed by FSRH. They explain how the tool can help empower people to find the best method of contraception for them.   

Choosing a contraception method can be daunting. And that’s before you consider all the misinformation and myths circling online.  

In the age of TikTok, we know that the demand for quick and easy ways of finding out relevant information has never been greater.

Our new contraception tool offers just that. Simply answer a series of questions about yourself and preferences to find out which contraception methods could be good options for you based on the facts.  

The need for a new tool 

We know that young people often feel that they have little choice regarding contraception when they go for a consultation.  

In our recent survey about contraception with 2,000 young people, one young person told us:  

“Other methods apart from the pill and condoms appear to rarely be suggested as a first option, you have to come up with the idea yourself and broach it with the doctor (e.g. getting the coil).” 

Where they’re not getting information from other areas of their lives, lots of young people are turning to social media.

Social media can be really useful but it’s also rife with myths about contraception, particularly hormonal methods, and people talking about their individual experiences as though they are universal. But contraception affects everyone differently and what doesn’t work for one person may work for someone else.

Faced with this online world of myths and a lack of personalised information, we knew a contraception quiz would prove really valuable.

A quick Google search will show you numerous contraception quizzes that all claim to help you narrow down or choose the best option for you. But from our research, and our expertise from working with in clinics, schools and digitally, we felt that they all had something missing.  

Many quizzes focus on the effectiveness at preventing pregnancy as a key factor in someone’s decision. But not everyone looking to access contraception is concerned with preventing pregnancy. For people experiencing acne, heavy and/or painful periods, mood swings and PMDD, hormonal contraception can be a game changer. Quizzes focusing on the percentage of effectiveness of preventing pregnancy ignore the many reasons why someone may want contraception and the myriad of considerations that impact someone’s decision.  

We also found that existing online contraception quizzes are exclusively for girls, women and people with vulvas.

But contraception is everyone’s responsibility 

At Brook we empower everyone to make informed decisions about their sexual health. We advocate that contraception is not just the responsibility of girls, women and people with vulvas: everyone should be thinking and talking about contraception – regardless of their genitals and how many contraceptive methods are available to them. With this in mind, we wanted a tool that helped guide people with penises as well as people with vulvas through their responsibility and options. 

Reflecting upon what we were seeing in clinic, online and what already existed, we knew we wanted to see a tool that was:  

• Unbiased – providing the facts about the benefits of each method without seeking to promote one over the other 
• Inclusive – reflecting the diversity of people using contraception and their reasons for using it 
• Clinically informed – giving the same facts and advice our clinicians give at our clinics 
• Myth-busting – challenging some common misconceptions  

Partnership and collaboration   

To move the new tool from idea to reality, we knew working with the right design and tech partner was crucial. We approached ThreeTenSeven, a brand innovation consultancy and champions of health, wellbeing and happiness, and asked for their support in creating an innovative tool that would be beneficial to many people. 

With ThreeTenSeven on board, the next step was to engage our clinical teams to make sure we created a tool that was not only intuitive and visually appealing, but delivered up-to-date, clinically accurate information.  

Working with our CASH nurses, we developed a way to rank methods based on accessibility, effectiveness at preventing pregnancy, side effects (both positive and negative) and personal preference.  

At the same time, we sought support from Brook’s Participation Forums to help us design an online journey that is easy to use, inclusive, informative and responsive to the needs of prospective users. Through workshops and testing prototypes, the Forum Members offered valuable insights and recommendations to refine and improve on our initial designs. 

The final tool 

The finished tool is everything we hoped it would be: It’s empowering, informative, inclusive and easy to use. 

Thanks to ThreeSevenTen’s design work and expertise, it offers a simple and easy way to navigate, what can be, complex information about contraceptive methods. Peppered throughout the tool are bite-sized messages that clarify and challenge common contraception misinformation around condoms, the pull-out method and fertility awareness methods.

We’re delighted that it’s clinically-sound advice is being recognised and the tool has been endorsed by the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health (FSRH).

So far the tool has already been used by over 2,200 people this summer. We hope that the tool provides some clarity amongst the misinformation online and is empowering more people to understand and advocate for the methods they believe would be best for them.