An Assessment of Adolescent/Youth Friendly Sexual and Reproductive Health Services in The Volta Region of Ghana

ABSTRACT

Background

 Over the past decade, the framework of adolescent-friendly health care has been used to better orient health services to the needs of young people. In fulfilling this worthy aim, the state of this adolescent-focused care and the performance based on client perceptions have to be regularly evaluated. Objective This study seeks to access the satisfaction with the youth friendly sexual and reproductive health services rendered to young people in the Ho, Hohoe and Kpando Municipalities. Methodology This is a descriptive exploratory study analysing qualitative data collected from 21 female adolescents aged 15-24 years, 9 service providers and 12 parents from Kpando, Ho and Hohoe communities. Using both English and Ewe languages, 24 in-depth interviews with the aid of a guide was done among adolescents, and providers, while three focus group discussions among adolescent and parents were conducted. These were recorded on audio tapes and transcribed. Specific indicators of youth-friendliness were developed in a checklist that measured health provider factors/perceptions, client factors/perceptions and program characteristics at each study site. Similarly, indicators of community acceptance were developed that measured whether parents supported the provision of reproductive health services to youth. Thematic content analysis to develop themes was done on all interview and focus group discussion transcripts using Nvivo version 7. Findings and conclusion Although there appeared to be general satisfaction expressed by adolescent clients about the services they received, there were challenges of funding, infrastructure, poor youth involvement, breached privacy and confidentiality, poor staff training and parental antagonism to some of the services. The findings suggest that improvements in health services for the youth may have a larger impact on the health-seeking behaviours of adolescents.