Family Planning Victoria engaged Larter to assist in the development of a service coordination guide to support health and community services improve access for young people to appropriate and responsive sexual and reproductive health care.
Understanding Barriers to Youth Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare
Young people can experience practical, social, financial, geographic, and perceived barriers when trying to access sexual and reproductive healthcare. Understanding these barriers can help organisations design youth-friendly health services that are accessible, appropriate, confidential, and responsive to different needs.
What Makes Sexual and Reproductive Health Services Youth-Friendly?
Youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services should be accessible, confidential, inclusive and responsive to the experiences of young people. This includes creating an environment where young people feel comfortable asking questions, discussing sensitive concerns and seeking appropriate care without unnecessary barriers. Service providers can improve accessibility through clear information, respectful communication, appropriate referral pathways and staff training. Larter’s approach incorporates young people’s perspectives alongside provider knowledge to help health and community organisations identify practical improvements to service delivery.
BACKGROUND
Young people can experience practical, social, financial, geographic and perceived barriers when trying to access sexual and reproductive healthcare. Understanding these barriers can help organisations design youth-friendly health services that are accessible, appropriate, confidential and responsive to different needs.
Improving access is not only about increasing the availability of services. Young people may interact with GPs, community health organisations, sexual health services, specialist providers and other support services. Stronger service coordination can improve referral pathways, reduce duplication and make it easier for young people to navigate the healthcare system.
Improving Youth Sexual and Reproductive Health Service Coordination
Effective service coordination helps young people move between general practice, community health, sexual health services and specialist care with fewer barriers. Clear referral pathways can reduce duplication, improve communication between providers and make local services easier to navigate. For organisations, mapping available services and identifying gaps can also strengthen partnerships and improve continuity of care. Larter uses consultation, service mapping and evaluation to help organisations develop practical approaches that reflect local service capacity and the needs of young people.
Strengthening Service Coordination and Health Outcomes
Young people’s perspectives can provide valuable evidence about whether services are accessible, acceptable and responsive to their needs. Incorporating consumer feedback into health service planning can help organisations identify gaps, improve service pathways and develop approaches that better reflect the experiences of young people.
Better coordination between primary healthcare providers and community organisations can also contribute to broader community health outcomes. By combining stakeholder engagement, evidence and evaluation, organisations can identify practical opportunities to create more accessible and responsive sexual and reproductive health services for young people.
The Victorian Public Health and Wellbeing Plan 2011–2015 http://www.health.vic.gov.au/prevention/vphwplan
The Third National Sexually Transmissible Infections Strategy 2014-2017 http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/ohp-bbvs-sti
Mitchell A, Patrick K, Heywood W, Blackman P, Pitts M. 2014. 5th National Survey of Australian Secondary Students and Sexual Health 2013, (ARCSHS Monograph Series No. 97), Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
Health service providers are an important source of information for young people as well as critical to supporting young people’s sexual and reproductive health needs. The project aimed to support service providers to better provide sexual and reproductive health services for young people.
The two key objectives:
- Improve coordination of service delivery by providing the information that health and community service providers need to strengthen partnerships and pathways to meet young people’s needs better.
- Support health and community service providers to improve engagement with young people and have effective conversations with them about their sexual and reproductive health.
Larter drew on its experience in engaging young people, knowledge of sexual health issues and the Victorian health and community service sector, knowledge of Victoria’s service coordination framework, and high-level project management and social research methods to develop this service co-ordination guide.
Strengthening Coordination Between Health Services
Improving access is not only about increasing the availability of services. Young people may interact with GPs, community health organisations, sexual health services, specialist providers, and other support services. Stronger service coordination can improve referral pathways, reduce duplication, and make it easier for young people to navigate the healthcare system.
PROCESS
Larter conducted the project in three phases:
- Map services and consult with service providers
- Initial service map of six Northern Melbourne Local Government Areas.
- Consultations with providers of sexual and reproductive health services and those community services who work with youth.
- Consultations with young people
- Four focus groups with young people from diverse social and cultural backgrounds at various locations in the Northern Melbourne area (for example, young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, same-sex attracted and gender diverse young people, young men, and general young people).
- Development of the guide, including a care/referral pathway
- A care/referral pathway will be developed and finalised in consultation with the project reference group.
- Final service coordination guide.
Larter consulted with young people in the six LGAs identified. Young people’s needs and perspectives (as well as the views and perspectives we have collected from service providers) informed the service coordination guide. During consultation with young people we learned:
- What young people think creates a positive interaction with a service provider.
- How young people would like service providers to raise and discuss sexual and reproductive health issues.
- Their awareness of the local services available to them.
To ensure the guide improves access to appropriate, accurate, evidence-based sexual and reproductive health care we included information on:
- Key sexual and reproductive health issues experienced by young people.
- What young people want and need from service providers to address their sexual and reproductive health needs.
- The barriers for young people in accessing sexual and reproductive health services.
- How to better engage young people about their sexual and reproductive health and what makes a service more youth friendly.
- How to better engage young men in sexual health care in primary care settings.
Improving Access to Youth Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare
Health and community organisations can improve access by combining youth consultation, local service mapping, coordinated referral pathways and workforce capability. In Victoria, understanding the services available across local government areas can help identify gaps and strengthen connections between providers. Larter supports organisations with research, consultation, service planning and evaluation to develop practical approaches that respond to local community needs and improve access to appropriate primary and community healthcare for young people.
Delivering youth-friendly services
Larter has been developing and delivering education to primary health care audiences since 2008. We design education and training to meet the needs of community health services, community sector organisations, and clinical and non-clinical staff in Australian general practices. Our education modules are practical and relevant to the day-to-day work of primary care settings. Larter has developed a workshop to support health providers to deliver youth-friendly services through better management of young people in primary health care settings. View our education or feel free to contact us to discuss our youth-friendly workshops or your individual learning needs so we can tailor education for you.
Using Young People’s Experiences to Improve Services
Young people’s perspectives can provide valuable evidence about whether services are accessible, acceptable, and responsive to their needs. Incorporating consumer feedback into health service planning can help organisations identify gaps, improve service pathways, and develop approaches that better reflect the experiences of young people.
Conclusion
Improving young people’s access to sexual and reproductive healthcare requires more than simply increasing service availability. Understanding barriers, strengthening coordination, improving referral pathways, and involving young people in service planning can create a more accessible and responsive system. Using evidence and evaluation to continually assess services can further help organisations identify gaps and develop better coordinated primary healthcare services for young people.
Frequently Asked Questions
Barriers can include concerns about privacy and confidentiality, cost, location, availability, service awareness, transportation, stigma, and uncertainty about where to seek appropriate care.
Youth-friendly services generally aim to provide accessible, respectful, confidential, appropriate, and non-judgemental care that reflects the needs and preferences of young people.
Young people may need support from multiple providers. Better coordination can make referral pathways clearer, reduce fragmented care, and help people access appropriate services more efficiently.
Organisations can assess barriers, improve referral pathways, strengthen partnerships, provide clear information, engage young people in service design, and regularly review how effectively services are meeting their needs.
Young people can provide direct insight into their experiences of accessing services, including barriers and preferences that may not be visible through administrative or service data.