The sex factor—listening and responding to young people's sexual health needs

Abstract

Background: Young people's Sexual Health in Scotland is undeniably poor with high rates of teenage pregnancy and increasing levels of Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs). Method: Bringing together young people from across Scotland to gather ideas and identify real issues for young people NHS Education for Scotland (NES) Young Peoples Public Partnership Forum (PPF) organised a national event. This was attended by over 150 school pupils aged IIIS and accompanying teachers from throughout the country, accommodating a wide and diverse geographical, cultural and social spread. The event hosted facilitated workshops on contraception and pregnancy, STIs and the media and relationships. Results: Key issues from the day highlighted an inequality in sexual health education provision in schools and limited access to youth friendly services, alongside the recognition of the influence of the media in relation to this agenda. Conclusion: Overwhelmingly the young people at this event stressed that these were big ongoing issues for them as teenagers that sexual health is an important part of adolescence and on the whole they felt ill-equipped to make informed decisions. Outcomes from these discussions will inform the development of a NES Education resource toolkit for educators and health professionals.