Should we change the focus of health promotion in sexual health clinics?

Sexual Health ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Crouch ◽  
Patricia Fagan
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Sexual Health ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Health Inequity ◽  
Health Service Provision ◽  
Health Clinics ◽  
Sexual Health Service ◽  
Actual Nature ◽  
The Social ◽  
Sexual Health Clinics

In a response to the recent article by Rudiger Pitroff and Elizabeth Goodburn on changing the focus of health promotion in sexual health clinics, Crouch and Fagan draw attention to the confusion among practitioners between brief interventions in clinics (health education) and the actual nature and scope of sexual health promotion. The response refocuses attention on the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion and on the social determinants of sexual health inequity as appropriate design drivers of a pilot initiative proposed by Pitroff and Goodburn to re-orient sexual health service provision around the real needs of its clients.

Should we change the focus of health promotion in sexual health clinics?

Sexual Health ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rudiger Pittrof ◽  
Elizabeth Goodburn
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Health Promotion ◽  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Reproductive Health ◽  
Sexual Health ◽  
Sexual And Reproductive Health ◽  
Health Clinics ◽  
Unknown Risk ◽  
Sexual Health Clinics ◽  
The Cost

The effectiveness of sexual behaviour change interventions in sexual health clinics is unknown. Risk factors for poor sexual and reproductive health such as depression, violence, alcohol and smoking in sexual health clinics are all common and can be identified easily in sexual health services. Targeting these risk factors could be as effective as traditional sexual health promotion and could have additional benefits. The authors propose a pilot to assess the cost-effectiveness and acceptability of incorporating screening and interventions for these risk factors.

Safeguarding outcomes of 16 and 17-year-old service users of Sexual Health London (SHL.uk), a pan-London online sexual health service

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (14) ◽  
pp. 1373-1379
Author(s):  
Sara Day ◽  
Ryan Kinsella ◽  
Sophie Jones ◽  
Victoria Tittle ◽  
Tara Suchak ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Sexual Health ◽  
Social Services ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Transmitted Infection ◽  
Sexually Transmitted ◽  
Health Clinics ◽  
Sti Testing ◽  
Sexual Health Service ◽  
Sexual Health Clinics

Guidance around how to safeguard young people using online sexual health services (e-SHSs) is limited. Sexual Health London (SHL.uk) is an e-SHS, integrated with London’s sexual health clinics (SHCs), offering users aged 16 years and above sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing. For a safeguarding risk assessment, under 18s must complete a safeguarding e-triage, and any concern raised results in a ‘call back’ (CB) by the SHL.uk team. The safeguarding outcomes of CBs between 8 January 2018 and 18 September 2018 were reviewed; 261/454 (57.5%) users never triggered a CB on their e-triage (non-CB group) and 193/454 (42.5%) users triggered one or more CB(s) (CB group). Safeguarding concerns disclosed predominantly related to drug/alcohol use and partner's age imbalance. Successful telephonic risk assessment took place in 84.5% CB cases. Safeguarding outcomes comprised referrals to: SHC in 35.5%; child protection team in 8.5%; social services in 7%. STI positivity was 16.4% and 15.2% in the CB and non-CB groups, respectively. Although a high number of safeguarding triggers were disclosed, only a small proportion warranted referral for further support/intervention. Using e-triage with telephony support to screen and safeguard adolescents accessing an e-SHS was acceptable to users and enabled their clinical and safeguarding needs to be safely met. e-SHS integration within a network of SHCs further supported this model.

P3.341 Sex and the London Olympics 2012 Part 1. Impact on Community Sexual Health Service Provision in London

2013 ◽  
Vol 89 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. A255.3-A256 ◽  
Author(s):  
G Brook ◽  
J Cassell ◽  
C Mercer ◽  
K Coyne ◽  
H Maguire ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Service ◽  
Sexual Health ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Health Service Provision ◽  
Sexual Health Service ◽  
London Olympics

scholarly journals The social organisation of sexual relationships: an exploratory qualitative study

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Pothoulaki ◽  
Gabriele Vojt ◽  
Fiona Mapp ◽  
Melvina Woode Owusu ◽  
Catherine Mercer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Health ◽  
Sexual Relationships ◽  
Sexual Scripts ◽  
Social Organisation ◽  
Health Clinics ◽  
Effective Interventions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Sexual Health Communication ◽  
Sex With Men ◽  
Sexual Health Clinics

This study shows how contemporary understandings of relationships are wrought with the legacies of the past, while also being shaped by an increasingly complex, often technologically-mediated, novel social environment. Understanding these shifts in the social organisation of sexual relationships is vital to inform policies, tailor effective interventions to prevent the transmission of STIs, and to improve sexual health communication, services and outcomes. We explored the social organisation of sexual relationships through analysing qualitative data from eleven focus groups conducted in Scotland and England with members of the public and participants recruited from sexual health clinics. Purposive and convenience sampling elicited 57 participants (heterosexual, n=30, aged 18-30 years; men who have sex with men, n=27, aged 18-65 years). An initial thematic analysis was subsequently explored further in terms of its resonance with key constructs from sexual script theory. The study shows how the ways people perceive and talk about their relationships relates to the changing and multi-layered social organisation of relationships. Our findings emphasize how recent, labile, socio-cultural scenarios are shaping fluid and emerging interpersonal and intrapsychic sexual scripts leading to both new uncertainties and opportunities in the ways we relate to each other sexually.

Enhanced surveillance of syphilis cases among men who have sex with men in London, October 2016–January 2017

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 422-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sangeeta Rana ◽  
Neil Macdonald ◽  
Patrick French ◽  
Jay Jarman ◽  
Sheel Patel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Promotion ◽  
Sexual Health ◽  
Risk Behaviour ◽  
Hiv Positive ◽  
Health Clinics ◽  
Sex With Men ◽  
Group Sex ◽  
Sexual Health Clinics ◽  
Hiv Negative ◽  
Hiv Positive Men

Syphilis rates have been increasing in men who have sex with men (MSM) in London. To describe risk behaviour and refine public health interventions, we conducted prospective enhanced surveillance of new syphilis cases in MSM attending selected London sexual health clinics (SHCs) between October 2016 and January 2017. Sexual health advisors (SHAs) completed 107 questionnaires. Eighteen per cent of respondents reported always using condoms, with lower use in HIV-positive (8%, 4/53) than HIV-negative men (33%, 14/52). Almost half of respondents reported condomless sero-discordant sex (46%, 33/72). The most frequent means of meeting new partners reported were venues (80%, 76/95), particularly bars or clubs (34%, 32/95), and apps or websites (79%, 75/95). Nearly a third of respondents reported engaging in group sex (32%, 30/95). Almost half reported drug use during sex (47%, 46/98), with HIV-positive men more likely to report use of the three main ‘chemsex’ drugs. The majority of respondents preferred health promotion information from SHAs (63%, 58/92) compared to other sources such as Google/Wikipedia and apps. Prevention activity should continue to focus on condomless sex, serosorting, multiple and overlapping partners, and chemsex. SHCs, particularly those serving HIV-positive men, are important sources for sexual health promotion advice.

Increases in pharyngeal Neisseria gonorrhoeae positivity in men who have sex with men, 2011–2015: observational study

2019 ◽  
Vol 96 (6) ◽  
pp. 432-435
Author(s):  
Nicholas Byron Comninos ◽  
Linda Garton ◽  
Rebecca Guy ◽  
Denton Callander ◽  
Christopher K Fairley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Health ◽  
Temporal Trends ◽  
Health Service Delivery ◽  
Publicly Funded ◽  
Surveillance Network ◽  
Health Clinics ◽  
Sexual Health Service ◽  
Younger Age ◽  
Sex With Men ◽  
Sexual Health Clinics

ObjectivesPharyngeal gonorrhoea disproportionately affects men who have sex with men (MSM). We explored temporal trends in pharyngeal gonorrhoea positivity among MSM compared with anorectal and urogenital positivity.MethodsData (2011–2015) were extracted from 41 publicly funded sexual health clinics participating in a national surveillance network. Positivity was defined as the proportion of first-visit testing occasions where gonorrhoea was detected. Logistic regression explored trends in positivity and correlates of positive pharyngeal tests.ResultsFrom 2011 to 2015, 24 792 MSM tested (16 710 pharyngeal, 19 810 urogenital and 15 974 anorectal first-visit tests). Pharyngeal positivity increased by 183% from 139/3509 (4.0%) in 2011 to 397/3509 (11.3%) in 2015, p-trend <0.001; urogenital positivity by 39% from 257/4615 (5.6%) to 295/3783 (7.8%), p-trend=0.006; and anorectal positivity by 87% from 160/3469 (4.6%) to 286/3334 (8.6%), p-trend <0.001. The annual temporal increase in positivity was greater in the pharynx (OR 1.33; 95% CI 1.27 to 1.38) than at urogenital (OR 1.06; 95% CI 1.02 to 1.10) and anorectal (OR 1.16; 95% CI 1.11 to 1.21) sites. Factors independently associated with pharyngeal gonorrhoea were: younger age (p<0.001), higher numbers of recent sexual partners (p-trend=0.004), contact with a person with a diagnosed STI (p<0.001), injecting drug use (p<0.001), anogenital symptoms (p<0.001) and HIV-positive status (p=0.050).ConclusionTemporal increases in gonorrhoea positivity occurred at all anatomical sites, with the greatest increase in the pharynx. Risk factors could be used to help to develop testing and prevention strategies among MSM at highest risk. Strengthening sexual health service delivery, testing and surveillance remain priorities for pharyngeal gonorrhoea control.

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