Improving sexual health for young people: making sexuality education a priority

Helmer, Janet; Senior, Kate; Davison, Belinda; Vodic, Andrew D.

doi:10.1080/14681811.2014.989201

Cited by 73 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“… Formby, ). These aforementioned approaches reinforce a risk culture that underpins much sexual health and school‐based sexual health provision (Attwood & Smith, ; Helmer et al., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…wanting to discuss sexual health issues (Helmer et al, 2015;McKee et al, 2014). Similar concerns for young people are known to exist over issues of confidentiality, disclosure and the prominence or invisibility of school nurse or sexual health services or facilities (Carroll et al, 2012;Harper et al, 2016;Owen et al, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, the quality of sexual health education and improvement programmes varies enormously (Bailey et al., ). This inconsistency in approach and quality is evident in other international studies has long been criticised and is deemed to be one of the reasons why provision often fails to meet young people's needs (British Youth Council, ; Cheetham, ; Harper, Liddon, Dunville, & Habel, ; Helmer, Senior, Davison, & Vodic, ; McKee, Watson, & Dore, ; Secor‐Turner, Sleving, Eisenberg, & Skay, ). Moreover, scientific or biological approaches often dominate, resulting in programmes that are too clinical, didactic or omit relevant relationship information or skills and which young people find difficult to relate to or engage with (St Leger & Young, ; Westwood & Mullan, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, scientific or biological approaches often dominate, resulting in programmes that are too clinical, didactic or omit relevant relationship information or skills and which young people find difficult to relate to or engage with (St Leger & Young, ; Westwood & Mullan, ). This disconnect is known to cause them to disengage from both school and parents when wanting to discuss sexual health issues (Helmer et al., ; McKee et al., ). Similar concerns for young people are known to exist over issues of confidentiality, disclosure and the prominence or invisibility of school nurse or sexual health services or facilities (Carroll et al., ; Harper et al., ; Owen et al., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, much provision remains predominately heteronormative and/or trans or homophobic in content and delivery (Zeeman, 2016;Formby, 2011). These aforementioned approaches reinforce a risk culture that underpins much sexual health and school-based sexual health provision (Attwood & Smith, 2014;Helmer et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Listening for commissioning: A participatory study exploring young people's experiences, views and preferences of school‐based sexual health and school nursing

Aranda

Coleman²,

Sherriff

et al. 2017

Journal of Clinical Nursing

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Funding informationThe paper draws on insights gained from engagement and participation activities, commissioned by an English Local Authority (LA) in 2015, which aimed to provide greater understanding of the views and experiences of young people in relation to health improvement services and initiatives. The LA developed the overall brief, main research questions and helped guide the work. The findings have been used by the LA to help inform service changes and develop a transformational health improvement programme in school settings. Aims and objectives:To explore the experiences, views and preferences of young people aged 11-19 years regarding school-based sexual health and school nursing to inform commissioning and delivery for one local authority area in England during 2015.Background: Promoting sexual health for young people remains a challenging, even controversial, but important public health issue. Concerns regarding accessibility, acceptability and efficacy in school-based sexual health and school nursing are evident in the literature. Additionally, a complex public health policy context now governs the funding, provision and delivery of sexual health and school nursing, which potentially presents further challenges.Design: A qualitative, participatory design was used to explore sexual health and school nursing. Data were generated from 15 focus groups (n = 74), with young people aged 11-19 years, in educational-based settings in one local authority area in England.Results: The resultant themes of visibility in relation to sexual health education and school nursing revealed both the complex tensions in designing and delivering acceptable and appropriate sexual health services for young people and the significance of participatory approaches. Conclusion:Our study shows the importance of participatory approaches in working with young people to clearly identify what they want and need in relation to sexual health. The findings also confirm the ways in which school-based sexual health remains challenging but requires a theoretical and conceptual shift. This we argue must be underpinned by participatory approaches.Relevance to clinical practice: School nurses have always had a significant role to play in promoting positive sexual health for young people and they are exceptionally well placed to challenge the risk-based cultures that frequently dominate schoolbased sexual health. A shift of debates and practices towards the promotion of positive sexual health cultures though previously argued for now requires the active engagement and involvement of young people. Sherriff et al., 2011; Attwood & Smith, 2014;Carroll, Lloyd-Jones, Cooke, & Owen, 2012;Hayter, Owen, & Cooke, 2012; Owen et al., 2010). In England, school nurses are qualified nurses with specialist training in the public health needs of school-aged children and young people (Department of Health, 2012a;Jenkins, 2016;Maughan, Bobo, Butler, Schantz, & Schoessler, 2015). The "School Health Service" aims to provide programmes and interventions to p...

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“… Formby, ). These aforementioned approaches reinforce a risk culture that underpins much sexual health and school‐based sexual health provision (Attwood & Smith, ; Helmer et al., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Listening for commissioning: A participatory study exploring young people's experiences, views and preferences of school‐based sexual health and school nursing

Aranda

Coleman²,

Sherriff

et al. 2017

Journal of Clinical Nursing

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Child sexual exploitation and abuse disclosure and help‐seeking: A glimpse of global South data

Kavenagh,

Maternowska

2024

Child Abuse Review

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Over decades, research practitioners have highlighted how survivors of sexual abuse in childhood face strong forms of stigma including victim‐blaming, shame and social isolation. However, the data and evidence are disproportionately slanted towards the global North. Shifting the focus to the global South, this reflective piece draws on two substantial multicountry research projects to highlight the expectations and experiences of young survivors of child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) in their quest for support. By applying a socio‐ecological analysis, it demonstrates how societal stigma—from both professionals and young people themselves—compounds the help‐seeking process. The findings support the well‐documented concept that disclosing sexual violence is an ongoing—not singular—process that depends on a series of interactions at the individual, interpersonal and institutional levels of the ecosystem. Building better trauma‐informed responses is likely to help; however, a focus only on services falls short, especially in countries where child protection systems struggle to thrive. A concurrent transformative shift in both social and gender norms across the ecosystem is essential to address the seemingly intractable challenges to child sexual exploitation and abuse prevention and response.

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Iranian Immigrant Mothers

Zargarian

2023

The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Sexuality Education

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Improving sexual health for young people: making sexuality education a priority

Cited by 73 publications

References 25 publications

Listening for commissioning: A participatory study exploring young people's experiences, views and preferences of school‐based sexual health and school nursing

Listening for commissioning: A participatory study exploring young people's experiences, views and preferences of school‐based sexual health and school nursing

Child sexual exploitation and abuse disclosure and help‐seeking: A glimpse of global South data

Iranian Immigrant Mothers

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