STI service delivery in British Columbia, Canada; providers' views of their services to youth

Abstract

BackgroundLittle is known about service providers’ knowledge, attitudes, and experiences in relation to the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of individuals seeking care for sexually transmitted infections (STIs), and how they influence the delivery of services. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of STI care providers and the ways they approached their practice.MethodsWe used a qualitative approach drawing on methods used in thematic analysis. Individual semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 21 service providers delivering STI services in youth clinics, STI clinics, reproductive health clinics, and community public health units in British Columbia (BC), Canada.ResultsService providers’ descriptions of their activities and roles were shaped by a number of themes including specialization, scarcity, and maintaining the status quo. The analysis suggests that service providers perceive, at times, the delivery of STI care to be inefficient and inadequate.ConclusionFindings from this study identify deficits in the delivery of STI services in BC. To understand these deficits, more research is needed to examine the larger health care structure within which service providers work, and how this structure not only informs and influences the delivery of services, but also how particular structural barriers impinge on and/or restrict practice.

Barriers and enablers to sexual health service use among university students: a qualitative descriptive study using the Theoretical Domains Framework and COM-B model

“…Perceived barriers to sexual health services among young adults include: service access (i.e., location, hours, confidentiality), service entry (i.e., waiting time, waiting environment, fear of being seen), quality of services (i.e., health care provider characteristics) and personal factors (i.e., stress associated with seeking sexual health services) [ 15 ]. Few studies have explored health service-level factors from the perspective of health care providers, administrators or policy-makers [ 16 , 17 ]. Further, there is a paucity of literature on how university students’ developmental stage, the university context, and health service characteristics merge to create barriers and/or enablers to university students’ use of sexual health services.…”

A cross-sectional survey exploring attitudes towards provincial electronic health record implementation among clients attending the Provincial Sexually Transmitted Infections Clinic in British Columbia

“…Practitioners at sexual health clinics possess specialised skills and training to provide dedicated STI services, making them an important alternative to primary care settings 14 15. Privacy and health information exchange may be of particular concern to patients accessing sexual health services, where the process of STI testing can often elicit emotions of embarrassment, stigma or guilt 16 17.…”

Examining clinicians' experiences providing sexual health services for LGBTQ youth: considering social and structural determinants of health in clinical practice

“…However, the youth clinics in our study did not require proof of being registered in the Medical Services Plan. This confidential approach to sexual health care has been shown to decrease perceived barriers to accessing sexual health care [19]. It is important to note here that although health care in BC is publicly funded, physicians often own their practice and bill the province's Medical Services Plan according to a billing schedule; for this and other reasons, although clinics are required to meet specific 'rules' and standards in terms of service provision, clinical interactions can often vary widely based on a clinicians' previous experiences (e.g.…”