Perceptions of counsellors and youth-serving professionals about sexual and reproductive health services for adolescents in Soweto, South Africa

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dc.contributor.authorMulaudzi, Mamakiri
dc.contributor.authorDlamini, Busisiwe Nkala
dc.contributor.authorCoetzee, Jenny
dc.contributor.authorSikkema, Kathleen
dc.contributor.authorGray, Glenda
dc.contributor.authorDietrich, Jana Janine
dc.date.accessioned2024-10-02T09:46:04Z
dc.date.available2024-10-02T09:46:04Z
dc.date.issued2018-02
dc.description.abstractBackground: Adolescents in South Africa remain vulnerable to HIV. Therefore, it is crucial to provide accessible adolescent-friendly HIV prevention interventions that are sensitive to their needs. This study aimed to investigate the perceptions of HIV counsellors and other youth-serving professionals about the barriers to providing adolescent youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services to adolescents in Soweto, South Africa. The study also explored how sexual and reproductive health services in South Africa could be improved to become more accessible to adolescents. Methods: The research team conducted two focus group discussions with HIV counsellors, and 19 semi-structured interviews with youth-serving professionals from organisations working with adolescents. Audio-recorded data were transcribed verbatim and analysed using thematic analysis. Results: The results of the study reveal that counsellors were expected to give adolescents HIV counselling and testing (HCT) but felt restricted by what they perceived as inflexible standard operating procedures. Counsellors reported inadequate training to address adolescent psychosocial issues during HCT. Healthcare provider attitudes were perceived as a barrier to adolescents using sexual and reproductive health services. Participants strongly recommended augmenting adolescent sexual and reproductive health services to include counsellors and adolescents in developing age- and context-specific HIV prevention services for adolescents. Conclusion: Continuous upskilling of HIV counsellors is a critical step in providing adolescent-friendly services.
dc.description.sponsorshipNational Institute of Mental Health.
dc.description.sponsorshipSouth African AIDS Vaccine Initiative (SAAVI).
dc.description.sponsorshipCanadian Africa Prevention Trials Network (CAPTN).
dc.description.sponsorshipSouth African National Research Foundation.
dc.description.submitterPM2024
dc.facultyFaculty of Health Sciences
dc.identifier.citationMulaudzi, M., Dlamini, B.N., Coetzee, J. et al. Perceptions of counsellors and youth-serving professionals about sexual and reproductive health services for adolescents in Soweto, South Africa. Reprod Health 15, 21 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12978-018-0455-1
dc.identifier.issn1742-4755 (online)
dc.identifier.orcid0000-0001-8495-2209
dc.identifier.orcid0000-0002-7435-6646
dc.identifier.orcid0000-0002-6145-6816
dc.identifier.other10.1186/s12978-018-0455-1
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/41274
dc.journal.titleReproductive Health
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherBMC
dc.relation.ispartofseriesVol. 15; No. 21
dc.rights© The Author(s). 2018 Open Access, This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
dc.schoolSchool of Public Health
dc.subjectAdolescent-friendly
dc.subjectYouth-friendly
dc.subjectHIV
dc.subjectSexual and reproductive health
dc.subjectHIV counselling and testing (HCT)
dc.subjectQualitative
dc.subject.otherSDG-3: Good health and well-being
dc.titlePerceptions of counsellors and youth-serving professionals about sexual and reproductive health services for adolescents in Soweto, South Africa
dc.typeArticle
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