Warts and all! A review of specialist sexual health services for young people
L. Mckay, E. Whatling
Lothian NHS, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
A review of
specialist sexual health services for young people was carried out in Lothian as
part of Healthy Respect, the National Demonstration Project focussing on the
sexual health needs of young people.
Objectives: to find out from service
providers more about who uses specialist or targeted young people’s sexual
health services in Lothian; to find out from young people aged 13 – 16 what
their perceptions of sexual health services are, how they find out about them
and what they want in terms of provision; to find out from young people aged 13
– 25 who use specialist sexual health services when, how and why they engage
with services, what they think about the services they use and how they would
like them to change.
Methods: A range of approaches were used including on line
and self completion questionnaires for young people, group work with young
people, one to one interviews with young people and asking for information from
service providers regarding their service and service users.
Results: 378 young
people and 11 service providers responded. The review has highlighted some key
lessons from both service providers and young people, which will influence
future sexual health services planning.
Conclusion: Healthy Respect embraces the
recommendations suggested within the review and is keen to support those working
in specialist sexual health services for young people to develop a young person
friendly service. This presentation will provide recommendations on how to do
this.
