BackgroundOver the last quarter century, there has been an emergence of evidence-based research directed toward the development, implementation, and assessment of youth-friendly health services (YFHS) to improve the delivery of sexual and reproductive health services for young people. Despite these research efforts, evidence supporting the effectiveness of YFHS is limited, which may be attributed to a lack of consensus on how to define and measure youth-friendliness to track progress and evaluate outcomes. The purpose of this systematic review is to assess how youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services are measured worldwide.MethodsWe conducted a systematic review of studies measuring youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services at health facilities published between January 2000 and June 2015 using PubMed, Web of Science, and POPLINE databases. Additional studies were identified by reviewing references of selected articles. Studies were screened to identify measurements and indicators that have been used to measure YFHS.ResultsOur review identified 20 studies from an initial search of more than 11,000 records, including six from high-income countries and 14 from low-and middle-income countries. The review identified 115 indicators used for measuring youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services. Our review found a lack of consistency in the tools and indicators used to measure YFHS. The three most frequently assessed domains were accessibility, staff characteristics and competency, and confidentiality and privacy. The majority of the indicators were not specific to young people’s needs and often reflected basic standards of care.ConclusionsThis review shows the need for standardization and prioritization of indicators for the evaluation of YFHS. The results can be used to identify a core set of indicators that can be incorporated into a framework for assessing youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services. There is a need to further distinguish between those variables that may have greatest impact on the use of services by young people, such as respect and privacy, those that impact the quality of services offered, and those that have limited relevance. Conducting more rigorous studies using a refined set of indicators is critical to measure and compare the impact and effectiveness of YFHS efforts.

This systematic review examines the relationship between neighborhood characteristics and adolescent pregnancy, contraceptive use, sexual initiation, and birthrate. Several studies found a significant association between higher poverty and increased adolescent birthrate, pregnancy, and earlier age at sexual initiation. Unsafe neighborhoods were associated with earlier sexual initiation and increased adolescent pregnancy. Mixed results were found for neighborhood racial or ethnic composition. Lower collective efficacy and social support were associated with increased rates of adolescent pregnancy and earlier age at sexual initiation. Improved definitions of neighborhoods, as well as research on interactions between structural factors and social processes during adolescence is needed.

Findings suggest that adolescents in rural areas face greater barriers to accessing family planning services than adolescents in urban areas. Targeted efforts to increase awareness and use of family planning services among adolescents in rural areas and among other underserved populations are needed.

Background Adolescents may forego needed sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services due to a variety of concerns and barriers. The purpose of this study is to compare adolescents’ perceptions of these barriers by participant characteristics including race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, housing situation, and sexual experience. Methods Adolescents in a California-wide sexual health education program completed an anonymous survey at baseline (N = 10,015) about perceived barriers to using SRH services. Logistic regression analyses that accounted for the clustered data structure assessed differences by gender, age, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, living situation, and sexual experience. Results The majority of participants were Hispanic/Latino (76.4%) with an average age of 14.9 years, and 28.8% had sexual experience. Half of the youth reported concerns about test results (52.7%), cost of services (52.0%), and confidentiality of services (49.8%). When controlling for other characteristics, youth identifying as transgender/non-binary/multiple genders had the highest odds of perceiving cost (odds ratio (OR) 1.89) and confidentiality (OR 1.51) as barriers. Increasing age was associated with decreasing odds of all barriers. Sexual orientation was a consistent predictor, with LGBQ+ youth having higher odds of perceiving test results (OR 1.21), cost (OR 1.36), and confidentiality (OR 1.24) as barriers. Asian or Pacific Islander/Native Hawaiian youth had higher odds of perceiving test results (OR 1.68) and cost (OR 1.37) as barriers. In contrast, Black youth had lower odds of reporting cost (OR 0.65) and confidentiality (OR 0.77) as barriers. Younger respondents and youth who identified as female, transgender/non-binary/multiple genders, LGBQ+, and Asian or Pacific Islander/Native Hawaiian had higher odds of reporting five or more barriers compared to reference groups. Conclusions The majority of adolescents face barriers to accessing appropriate SRH services, with females, gender-minority youth, younger adolescents, LGBQ+ youth, and Asian and Pacific Islander/Native Hawaiian youth more likely than others to report barriers. Access to SRH services can be improved through strengthening linkages between clinics and SRH education programs, providing youth-friendly clinical services, and ensuring youth have sufficient information, skills, and support to access care. Trial registration Approved by California Health and Human Services Agency’s Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects [12-08-0658, 11/30/2017].

BACKGROUND: Adolescents often lack access to accurate and appropriate sexual health information and services. Providing information about local clinical services during sexual health education classes is one strategy to increase awareness, yet many programs miss this opportunity. This study aims to learn about adolescents' experiences with sexual health education and their perceptions of barriers and facilitators to clinical care. METHODS:Nine focus groups were conducted between April to July 2018 with 69 adolescents who had recently attended a comprehensive sexual health education program in California. Topics included information received about local clinics during class and barriers and facilitators to access care. Qualitative data were coded and analyzed for key themes and compared by sex and geographic location. RESULTS:The majority of participants (89%) were Latino and most reported receiving relevant information about clinical services and had positive impressions of local services. Several mentioned that this information increased the likelihood that they would access services if needed. Common barriers to clinic services included parental disapproval, stigma, embarrassment, and confidentiality concerns. Facilitators included peer and family support, confidentiality of services, awareness and education, and accessibility. CONCLUSIONS:Sexual health education programs can provide an important bridge to local clinic services and address adolescents' concerns.

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Background Access to a smartphone is nearly universal among American adolescents, and most of them have used the internet to seek health information. Integrating digital technologies into health program delivery may expand opportunities for youth to receive important health information, yet there are few rigorous studies assessing the effectiveness of this type of intervention. Objective The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of In the Know (ITK), a program integrating in-person and technology-based sexual health education for underserved adolescents. Methods Youth were engaged in the development of the intervention, including the design of the digital technology and the curriculum content. The intervention focuses on 3 main areas: sexual health and contraceptive use, healthy relationships, and educational and career success. It includes an in-person, classroom component, along with a web-based component to complement and reinforce key content. A cluster randomized controlled trial is in progress among adolescents aged 13-19 years living in Fresno County, California. It is designed to examine the differences in self-reported health and behavioral outcomes among youth in the intervention and control groups at 3 and 9 months. Primary outcomes are condom and contraceptive use or no sex in the past 3 months and use of any clinical health services in the past 3 months. Secondary outcomes include the number of sexual partners in the past 3 months and knowledge of local clinical sexual health services. We will use mixed-effects linear and logistic regression models to assess differences between the intervention and control groups. Results Trial enrollment began in October 2017 and ended in March 2020 with a total of 1260 participants. The mean age of the participants is 15.73 (SD 1.83) years, and 69.98% (867/1239) of the participants report being Hispanic or Latino. Study results will be available in 2021. Conclusions ITK has the potential to improve contraceptive and clinic use among underserved youth. This trial will inform future youth-focused health interventions that are considering incorporating technology. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) DERR1-10.2196/18060

Background: Many conceptual frameworks that touch on immigration and health have been published over the past several years. Most discuss broad social trends or specific immigrant policies, but few address how the policy environment affects the context of settlement and incorporation. Research on the social determinants of health shows how policies across multiple sectors have an impact on health status and health services, but has not yet identified the policies most important for immigrants. Understanding the range and content of state-level policies that impact immigrant populations can focus health in all policies initiatives as well as contextualize future research on immigrant health. Methods: Our framework identifies state-level policies across five different domains that impact the health of immigrants and that vary across states, especially for those without legal status. Our scan shows that immigrants are exposed to different contexts, ranging from relatively inclusive to highly exclusive; a number of states have mixed trends that are more inclusive in some areas, but exclusive in others. Finally, we examine how the relative inclusiveness of state policies are associated with state-level demographic and political characteristics. Results: Contrary to the image that exclusive policies are a reaction to large immigrant populations that may compete for jobs and cultural space, we find that the higher the proportion of foreign born and Hispanics in the state, the more inclusive the set of policies; while the higher the proportion of Republican voters, the less inclusive. Conclusions: Variation across immigrant policies is much larger than the variation in state demographic and political characteristics, suggesting that state-level policies need to be included as a possible independent, contextual effect, when assessing immigrant health outcomes. This policy framework can be particularly useful in bridging our understanding of how large macro processes are connected to the daily lives and health of immigrants.