Welcome Booklet
Upstream’s Welcome Booklet helps patients feel more prepared for their appointments by consolidating frequently asked questions, myths and misconceptions, and providing a snapshot of all methods.
Patient Education Materials
Support contraceptive counseling with patient education materials (P.E.M.). Quality materials can be a valuable way to illustrate birth control options, address myths and misconceptions, and empower patients to play an active role in the counseling experience. Upstream USA’s suite of P.E.M. was researched, tested, and designed with patients and reflect the priorities and perspectives of a diverse group of people from a range of backgrounds. The content, copy, and design work together to create a patient experience that is interactive, welcoming, credible, and respectful.
Decision-Making Wheel
Upstream’s Decision-Making Wheel helps to facilitate patient-centered conversations by enabling patients and their healthcare teams to quickly compare methods. The content in the wheel is reflective of patients’ key drivers for choosing birth control.
Birth Control Postcards
Upstream’s Postcards provide information to help patients make decisions around their birth control. They can be used as self-guided learning materials or as a tool to facilitate conversations between healthcare teams and patients.
Birth Control Options One-Pager
Upstream’s print- and digital-friendly one-pagers encourages at-home learning and exploration. One-pagers can be provided as takeaways after an in-person visit, or sent in advance in telehealth settings. One-pagers are offered in color and black-and-white.
Discreet Materials
Some patients need a method of birth control that is discreet and invisible. We’ve developed a set of posters, tear sheets, and palm cards to educate patients about contraceptive options that are easy to hide. Resources are available in English and Spanish.
All Patient Education Materials
Order printed materials
Purchase printed versions of our patient education material via our online marketplace.
Questions or feedback?
Have a question or feedback about our materials? Send us an email. We review our materials annually to ensure that they are aligned with the latest clinical guidance and relevant to our health center partners and the communities they serve. Additionally, we are eager to hear about the innovative ways our materials are being used in-the-field! Share with us your experiences using the Upstream P.E.M. We’d love to connect with you.
Helpful links
- Bedsider: Contraceptive education materials that are fun and useful for patients and providers.
- Planned Parenthood: Planned Parenthood maintains a learning site aimed at educating patients on all methods of birth control
- Reproductive Health Access Project (RHAP): RHAP is a nonprofit that works directly with primary care providers, helping them integrate abortion, contraception, and miscarriage care into their practices
- CoverHer.org: CoverHer is a project by the National Women’s Law Center that provides women who are being charged out-of-pocket for birth control with resources and tools needed to appeal to insurance companies for proper coverage and/or reimbursement for various methods of birth control.
- Waiting Room Video Playlists on YouTube: Videos can be a great way to spark a conversation about birth control with patients. Consider playing our curated playlist of Bedsider videos, a 90-minute loop covering safe sex, birth control, and more in your waiting room or lobby.
How to use patient education material in your practice
These guides for clinicians and staff outline ways you can use our patient education materials during patient interaction and how to integrate the materials into administrative systems and workflows.
Admin Checklist: Patient Education Materials
How to use Upstream Patient Education Materials